The Cleansing of Zi
by LockeLink
Summary: The cleansing of Zi has been a dirty job for all Zoidians, and they have yet to accomplish their goal. The only question is, who are the ‘bad guys’? Specially written for Chaotic Century fans. R&R is highly appreciated.
1. Recollection and Reconstruction

Disclaimer: I do not own Zoids in any way, shape, or form. That goes for this chapter and all of the other ones in this fiction.  
  
Note from the author:  
Thank you for reading my Fiction, and I hope that you can enjoy it to the fullest. (Or close to it anyway)  
LockeLink  
  
Chapter 1 - Recollection and Reconstruction  
  
The streets were no longer flat, nor visible, as zoid wrecks were everywhere, and everyone in panic. The Death Saurer continued its rampage, the entire planet was almost completely destroyed, and the several (as in 7 - 8) thousand Zoidians that were left were being disintegrated by a single charged particle beam by the hundreds. Miles away, in the last stronghold for Zoidian kind, Hiltz was walking slowly with a grin on his face dragging along two children, both of them over his shoulder. One of them was a boy, and one was a girl, both about the age of 6 or 7.  
"Mister! Let go! What did you do to Mommy?!?" Yelled the little girl  
"Will you shut up already?" Yelled Hiltz back, he had been listening to the whining since he 'kidnapped' her and was getting sick of it, he already had knocked out the male because he was having to many problems with him, and now the girl was beginning to act up. "If you don't want to have an ouchy like him, I would stop that if I were you." But she had already begun to cry, she had been kidnapped from her parents arms, and then, after they were almost out the door, Hiltz had turned around and shot them, the look of agony of pain on her parents face would probably scar her for many years if not life. The next thing she knew, she was put into a zoid with a pilot along with the boy (who was still knocked out) and they rode off. After that, it was all blurry; she couldn't remember anything beyond that.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Ryss woke up with a fright. That vision was more then just some nightmare, but here past as well. She knew that Hiltz had kidnapped her because she was an important asset to his plans. The only reason she went along with his plans after she came out of the capsule was because she thought they were her duties. It was only after Hiltz went rampant over the land with the Death Stinger had she realized he was trying to destroy humanity altogether, and would oppress all, whether they were in the way or not. There were only 4 Zoidians to her knowledge that had been saved from the Death Saurer's destruction spree. Herself, Hiltz, Alysee (Fiona), and the final one, the male that had been kidnapped along with her, and Hiltz had knocked out. Except now there were only 3 Zoidians left, unless Hiltz had some how escaped from the explosion without an orgaonid, Ambient had permanently fused with the zoid core of the Death Stinger to give it the full potential that Hiltz needed.  
Specula came over to her; she had finally awakened since they fused together. They looked at each other in silence and stayed that way for a while. After the Death Saurer had been destroyed at the hands of Van Flihiet, Specula had brought the two of them to some ruins she had no idea where. But then she began to wonder if Specula had any reasons for sending her here. She felt compelled to get up and start moving.  
She started going down hallways that felt right. She actually had no idea where she was going, but something seemed to tell her to turn at some places and keep going at others. Finally she came to a room with a capsule that had already been open, and she felt disappointment come over her. Still, she felt that there was something here that was useful. But the room was pretty bland. It was just a small blue room with a tile decoration on the walls that had a capsule in the middle of it, already open. She looked around for a while, and then came to a control panel, on the screen; there were words on it that said, "Ready for Organoid dispatch." She was rather pleased to find that an organoid was still in its pod. She reluctantly but firmly initiated the opening sequence of the capsule. A wall began to open up from one end of the room, and she found a capsule was in a corner of this newly found space. She started to wonder how long this would take, but it wasn't too long until she spaced out again.  
She saw herself coming out of the capsule and seeing Nicolo, she remembered how friendly he was toward her, however, this was not a memory she wanted to come back to, and returned to reality. Assuming that the organoid capsule would take a while to open up, she sat, waited quietly, and tried to remember what she had fought for in the first place.  
  
* * * * *  
  
The Death Saurer was finally defeated. Van, Fiona, Zeek, and the Blade Liger came barreling toward the Ultra Saurus, with a thundering roar. Only Moonbay was dancing for joy, everyone was in a shock, but still quite joyful in there own, shocked ways. The wrecked, unknown city of the Zoidians sank into the sand, along with the head of the Death Saurer, with the expression of what seemed vengeful sorrow.  
Van hopped out of the Liger, and started walking toward everyone till he finally came to Thomas, who kept yelling at him saying things Van tuned out and just chuckled about. Frankly, Van was the hero and would go down in the history books, so he got a lot of congratulatory hand shakes and so on that he was flattered to receive, but was soon very tire some. Van and Fiona never said anything to each other that night.  
The days went by a little to slowly for everyone's taste, but soon a week went by. At the Red River base, Irvine was heading toward his zoid, and almost as if she were reading his thoughts, Moonbay was doing the same thing with the same thing in mind. The two zoids happened to be parked beside each other, so it was pretty hard to avoid each other. They just stared for a while at each other, then their zoids, and were like this for they didn't know how long. Just when they were beginning to move, two voices behind them called their names, Van calling Irvine, Fiona calling Moonbay.  
"Irvine, you planning on leaving again?" Asked Van, rather sad.  
"You don't think you and the boring military is going to make me stay do you?" Responded Irvine, rather seriously.  
"I see, and I don't think your going to come back either? Now that there is no threat that is in an immediate need for back up, you have nothing to come back to, do you?"  
"Yeah, your right, took it right out of my mind, didn't you?"  
"Well then I guess this is good-bye isn't it, thanks for everything, and take care of yourself."  
They Shook hands and he was off, about the same time Fiona and Moonbay were done talking, Van watched with a reluctant but expressionless face.  
"Moonbay, please don't go, we have had so many good times, and work very well together. Your positive you want to leave?" Pleaded Fiona?  
"Look, I know that you want me to stay so bad, I'm sure just about everyone does, but the thing is, I want my old way of life, not all this soldier stuff, but the open road, with some priceless cargo at my back for me to deliver." Responded Moonbay.  
"I understand. Be careful."  
"You don't need to worry about me."  
They hugged each other and Moonbay turned around, and got into her zoid. Fiona just watched with a reluctant, but expressionless face and waved her final goodbye. Before either of them left however, Fiona did say good-bye to Irvine and Van to Moonbay like wise.  
All four of them were pretty sure that they would never meet again, but the future was always unpredictable, so that comforted them a little bit.  
It was about mid afternoon then. After Irvine and Moonbay were out of site, Fiona looked at Van, but he continued to look out into the desert.  
  
"Van." Fiona stopped. This wouldn't be easy, and she was sure he was thinking the same thing. "Van, I -"  
"You don't need to say anything." He responded, knowing basically what she would say. The Death Saurer was destroyed a week ago, and neither of them even desired to see the other, let alone talk. It was rather painful now to talk, but it was also necessary. "I'm sorry how things have turned out too."  
The fact was, neither of them wanted to part. They didn't hate each other, despise each other, or were the slightest bit mad at each other. It's just that the love they had for each other disappeared.  
"Van, I'm sorry, I didn't want things to happen this way, I really didn't." They were both short of words; they both wondered what the problem in their relationship was. Zeek came up behind them, and that was the final straw. Fiona began to sob, Van cried his way to the Liger and left the base, after finding an isolated spot, he cried for about an hour before going back.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"It's only been a week since all the action settled down, and I'm beginning to get restless, how about you Shadow?" Asked Raven. Ever since the Death Saurer was destroyed, Raven went back to his parents' house, and had been living there ever since. He found himself a job in a pretty far village, and was working for a minimum wage doing handyman things around a small food market. The only thing that kept him going and hidden was Shadow being his transportation to and fro.  
His hatred for Van had died, completely, and was really the only man he respected, for his bravery and strength. His new life style was hard at first, but it was an easy change to get used to. Mostly after he was done working, he would fix up his house a little bit, day by day.  
He had lost much over the years. He was always unsure just how he was able to keep his sanity at times. The only things he still had were his zealous attitude, his organoid and his home. And for the first time, ever since he was a small child, he felt happy. The stars actually comforted him now and he felt more satisfied then ever. Still, he was a born fighter, the one thing he was good at was fighting with Zoids, but the world had to move on, and so did he.  
Responding to Raven's question, the organoid growled an agreement, it wanted the thrill of a fight, not the thrill of destruction anymore. The organoid had been originally sour, but its attitude had mellowed down now that Raven's attitude had done the same. Raven was really looking forward to his new life. Even his job provided him news of the world. He just needed to change his name. But that would be changeable at another time. For now, he needed to do his part in the reconstruction of Zi, as well as his life.  
  
* * * * *  
  
As for everyone else, many stayed in the military, knowing that their job still wasn't done. Dr. D however, retired. He was done, he had said that 'My duties have kept me youthful, but now that there is only tidy work to do and no emergency, you won't need me to get in your way, and even in an emergency, I won't help you, I just can't take it anymore.' The effects of age were really beginning to ware on him a lot. The other person ready for retirement was the madam president. Another election would soon take place in the Republic, but she was determined to rebuild her Republic before she left as she 'wanted to leave the youth with something other than ash and rubble'. Other than that, nothing changed. Thomas didn't really see Van, and to his 'misfortune', he didn't get to see Fiona at all either. He had his orders and duties, and carried them out respectfully.  
Of course, Rudolph was busy helping the reconstruction of the Empire and the Republic, having to recount the population ever since the charged particle beam had been unleashed all over the continent. When the count came in, they discovered that in all, the population of Zi was cut nearly in half, mostly from the Imperial side. But they needed to suck up their tears and move on, there would always be something to do for many years, as crime rates were being predicted to rise, and hospitals needing to be rebuilt.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Ryss thought about what had happened when Nicolo died. For some reason, it was completely unmemorable to her. She just couldn't think about what had happened to her. Her train of thought was broken when the capsule began to glow. "It's time." She said aloud. All she could do was hope that it wouldn't lash out at her.  
The case began to crack. Steam came pouring out, and the glass shattered. An organoid stepped out; surprisingly it was unphazed after being in there the whole time. Almost as if it were awaiting her orders, it stood before her, just staring. She stared back, though it seemed loyal to her, she was still a little uncertain if it would attack her. It took her a bit, but she was finally satisfied that it was tame enough to trust.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Thomas Shubaltz was on his way to the Red River base, mostly just for kicks. He didn't have anything to do, but he almost felt as though he needed to go there. He finally entered, rather tired from his journey, he was anxiously waiting to park the Dibison. He exited out, and at that moment saw Fiona, sitting on a bench in tears. "FIONA! What's wrong, are you alright?!?" 


	2. Many Paths, Many Unknown destinations

Chapter 2 - Many Paths, Many Unknown destinations.  
"Ok specula, where are we? I think it's high time I knew." Demanded Ryss, now that she was done spacing out, and feeling sorry for herself, she got herself back into the demanding mood.  
"You are on the continent of 'Impike' Milady." Answered an equally audible voice behind her. It was a rather young boy who looked to be about 7 years old. She was astonished how young he was and using words like 'Milady'. He had blond hair and green eyes. He was about the right size, and it looked as though he was and has been a solder for years by the way he was standing, and for some reason, he looked oddly familiar.  
"And who would you be?" She asked, wondering why he used Milady in the first place.  
"He is merely your attendant." Answered a third person, male and about the age of 45. "You seem to be at loss of who you are, aren't you?"  
"Who I am?"  
"Yes, though you know yourself to be Ryss, you are royalty to us. This may be a little too much to find out at once, who you are, and why your being treated this way, but there simply is no time to wait. We have been expecting you to come for sometime now."  
"You're right when you say I am at a loss. But I want the answers, I'm not that dazed yet." She said sarcastically. "But who are you?"  
"Not important. But you probably would like to have answers about the past, who our enemy is, and other things." Ryss nodded for him to go on. He nodded to the boy to leave, and as he left, the green organoid followed. "First of all, you are the queen of zoidians, it is your rightful place and it will be given to you. You are on the continent Impike, continent of the zoidians. There are about 3000 of us here. You may be wondering why we haven't shown ourselves to you yet, and that would be because we were only released when the Death Stinger had shown itself, so as you can see, its been almost a week now."  
"I should probably tell you about Hiltz, and why he was destroying everything is sight. You thought he went insane, correct?" She nodded, wondering if she would be punished by her interference. As if he could read her thoughts, he explained that it was beyond her knowledge and she didn't do anything unforgivable. "The humans on Zi aren't a real threat really, but they are being monitored. According to some of Hiltz's research, there are ships above the atmosphere, containing the real human threat."  
She was still very confused; the whole thing was going in circles that really didn't connect to each other. "I'm sorry, I'm doing the best I can to explain this to you, it is very complicated, but if you'll take a seat, I can do my best, and the mission will be so much clearer and you wont have any regrets. Now, I think I should explain the reason we want them dead so much, and that goes all the way back to before Zi was discovered."  
"Wait." She said. "What do you mean before it was discovered? How do we know this? And if we didn't discover it yet, that would almost have to mean that -  
"Zoidians were once humans? Yes, you're exactly right. We were humans. When the planet Earth was getting to be too crowded, it was about the year 4000 for them, and they desperately needed room, either that, or reproduction would be illegal. Of course, making such a thing illegal is quite impossible with out riots, HUGE riots. So that never became an option until about 100 years later, when a mad man by the name of Dr. Steve Randal got the idea with some high position got the idea that the riots would mean an opportunity of mass slaughter. He brought this up about three times before he was finally assassinated for such ideas. His son was a real intelligent man who was able to discover this planet."  
"To make a long story short, they built the first frozen animation pods, the ones that are like ours, and sent about 4 billion people to Zi." After many years of observing life here, one of his 'disciples' took the liberty upon her to discover a chemical that actually manipulated humans to have heightened senses and become much smarter. Everyone on Zi was given the chemical, and that is the birth of the zoidian race." He looked up at her to see if she was getting bored, but she was wide-awake and was hungry for the knowledge of her peoples' history.  
"The woman who discovered this chemical hid it from Randal. He never knew, the distribution was very stealthily handed out, and everyone sided with her, and never let it slip. However, nothing can stay hidden forever when under close observation, and she was found out. Afraid that she wouldn't get any credit and probably jailed for her acts of secrecy and distribution of an unknown chemical, She made haste to the laboratory that it was found. It was the only source ever found, and probably is the only source anywhere, though I don't know why, that's just what Hiltz has told us."  
"Excuse me," Ryss interrupted, "But is Hiltz still alive?"  
"No," he said, "everything about this is from his knowledge, it was just put in a log entry near the capsules of all the remaining zoidians. Let me see, where was I? Oh yes, anyway, so she went back to the only source, not wanting punishment, and probably driven by greed, she plunged into the 'pool' of this unknown substance. The problem was, it was only tested in small quantities, so death was being expected. However, that is not what happened. Hiltz's writings tell us that she turned into a giant statue. Which he believes to be the Zoid Eve."  
"What!" Ryss exclaimed, "You mean the Zoid Eve is actually a person?"  
"Yes," he said, "and no. Hiltz thinks that the thing isn't really a creature of flesh. But that is uncertain. It is completely soulless, or so we are lead to believe. Anyway, to make another long story short, the Zoid Eve made many of the first zoids, and compared to other combat vehicles and planes, they were stronger, faster and better 10 to 1 easily. We drove back all the forces of Dr. Randal, but he was able to get a whiff of the zoid technology and fought back. More and more zoids were made, and as you can imagine, the solders from earth were pretty much limitless. It was a losing battle for either side; a technology verses numbers. Zoidians having superior technology, but were being overwhelmed."  
"Finally, in a last ditch effort to stop and crush the humans once and for all, the Death Saurer was made. It took years, but finally it was complete. And they launched a.s.a.p even though it wouldn't accept anyone as its pilot, it was just too proud of its power. It was able to sense zoidian from human, and crushed everything sent at it. However, the human's technology rose. They began using electronic missiles to completely jam the circuits of the Zoids they hit. The sent so many flying at the Death Saurer, It finally shut down."  
"However, the Humans had pretty much used every missile they had left, and somehow, the Death Saurer rose again. However, the reason it is called the Death Saurer to us, is because those missiles messed up it's programming and changed it to wanting to destroy everything, even us. We fled, and put as many of our kind into pods as we could, we only had 3000. We used everything against it, even the guardian scorpions. THEY were finally about to take out its core. But by the time they did it successfully, everyone on the planet was destroyed, and-"  
He stopped for a while and took a breather. It was sure a mouthful. But Ryss wanted more, but also waited patiently.  
"That is why we hate the humans, because Dr. Randal wanted our technology and the source of our intelligence. He wanted power, and we were treated like lab rats. I think I also read that he wanted us dead. When we attacked him, we were ferocious and merciless in his eyes. He probably thought we would be a threat to everyone on earth. However, if we were to ally ourselves to them, or even a peace treaty would be made, we would still be segregated because of jealousy, and I think both sides know that one or the other must go. However, the third side is rather clueless to what is going on. The Humans on Zi are unknowingly giving away technology that will lead to their downfall, and ours. Putting it in the hands of the doctor's descendants."  
"Anyway, About 200 years later, after the face of Zi regained its natural self to a certain degree, the humans sent more of their kind. However, this time, this batch was unknowingly building over war stained lands and the scientists that sent them knew very well that the next generation of humans coming could be annihilated in the blink of an eye if the Death Saurer came. Pretty much, these humans have only been here for about 100 years. The time when the planet was barren was about 300 years, just a little side info incase you were wondering."  
"I think that will be all for now. What time is it?" asked Ryss  
"About 10 pm, need to rest? I doubt it, you only woke up about an hour ago, but I am sure beat, I'll tell you everything else tomorrow, goodnight."  
He led her out of the building, and for the first time in a while, she felt the cool air of the night, and she decided to go on a long walk and talk everything over with Specula.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Fiona, is everything ok?!?" Asked a very worried Thomas.  
"I-I'll be ok." She stuttered.  
He put his arm around her. He hadn't seen her cry since Van decided to stay and fight the death stinger while the Ultra Saures swam slowly away.  
"Please Fiona, I know I'm not Van or Moonbay, but I care about you too."  
"I know.Van and I don't share the feelings for each other that we used to. It is kind of hard to explain. But I think that the reason is because." She broke off.  
"Why Fiona? Why?" He asked again.  
"Tell me something? How can you be so worried about our relationship if you are jealous of it? It occurred to me only after began to think of this failing one. So how can you feel sorry?"  
"Fiona, I admit it. I was extremely jealous. I was so jealous I would sulk in my sorrows sometimes. But if there is one thing I want, above all else, it would have to be your happiness, even if it wouldn't work out between us, understand?"  
She nodded, and continued what she was about to say. "The reason we cant really stay together is, well." Again, she trailed off, but this time it was a lack of knowing what to say, rather than sadness.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Van began to make his way back, he didn't know how long he had been out there, but he guesstimated an hour. However, he just didn't care how long. He had tried to think of all the reasons possible that he and Fiona would stop talking to each other like that, but nothing came to him, all he had accomplished was shedding tears. "It feels good to cry every once in a while, I guess." He thought. He wondered if it really had mended some of the wounds inside of him. Really, the only thing that comforted him was the fact that it wasn't either of them WANTING to break away from the other. "What went wrong?" He asked himself again.  
He had put the liger into a sprint; he wasn't in a hurry to get back anytime soon. He spotted something ahead of him in the desert. It was only a speck of light at first, till he zoomed in, it was Zeek. They soon found themselves conversing with one another.  
"Well buddy, I've thought about it for a while, and I have decided to let you go with Fiona. You really aren't mine you belong to Fiona. It is the only solution for me not to be selfish, even though it was a hard one to go with. It would seem like I would never say this, but I don't want you to stay with me. Fiona is your real owner."  
That was the only way he knew how to explain it, and it made him shutter every time he implied Zeek as a piece of property.  
"I understand Van, it is rather hard for me to except, I want to be with both of you, but sometimes, choices have to be made. Thank you for understanding." Replied Zeek, he had come all this way to say the same thing.  
"Goodbye, my friend, I doubt we will ever meet again. Thanks. Thanks for everything." Van had a hard time saying it, but was relived it was over. He climbed back in, and headed west, toward the Wind Colony, his home. He looked over to his right to see Zeek going back toward the Red River base. It was after he disappeared behind a cliff, that he began to reflect all of the good and bad times with the three of them, and also began to weep again.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Irvine and Moonbay had been in their zoids for about three hours, side by side, and yet said nothing. It was Moonbay who broke the silence.  
"Do you think that those two hate each other all of a sudden? I couldn't understand why they were ignoring each other." She asked, almost half-mindedly.  
"I don't think they hate each other, I think it is just that they don't love each other. The reason behind such an unexpected out come is probably because they were always together, looking for the Zoid Eve, but now that it is found, and there is no real danger, the excitement is gone. Another part of the reason is because they really are different people. Fiona is more of a researcher rather than a pilot, or a strategist. The only reason that Van wanted to help her was that it was an adventure to him, and a search for her. He wanted the pleasure of fighting and action, she wanted the pleasure of discovery."  
That was rather astonishing for Moonbay; Irvine showing wisdom about things like these was like getting her Gustave to jump. "Since when were you so knowledgeable about these things?"  
"Since when did you start using words like, 'knowledgeable'? I just know, it seems pretty obvious; there can't be another reason, not in my mind. And anyway, I've seen something like this before." That would have been a true statement if he had said 'Experienced' something like this'. "Take care Moonbay, it was nice knowing you, and I cant say every time was a good time but -  
"Yeah, sure were some good times and bad times." She interrupted "but over all, sure was worth it. Besides, I think it should be you to take care, and don't get into to much trouble."  
"Yes mom." He sarcastically blurted out, and they each went in a different direction, one east, and one west. 


	3. New Alliances

Chapter 3 - New Alliances  
Reese had been walking in the darkness for a while, the cool night air felt so good, she thought that she would stay there the rest of the night, but the desert winds would soon become cold and bitter. Specula had been walking with her for a while, but neither of them said a word. Reese was still having trouble processing all the information she had heard a little bit ago. "Hiltz," she thought, "he has had some influence here. How long did he know of the existent of other zoidians?" That man was trying to convince her to believe that Hiltz was one of them. When he had inhabited the zoid core of the Death Saurer, he had said that he would destroy all the weak that couldn't defend them selves, or something like that, what would have stopped him from really destroying EVERYTHING?"  
The two moons continued to blaze in the sky; she began to regret being out in the desert as soon as she started shivering. She wrapped her arms around herself, but that wasn't working to well, but it wasn't too long until she felt a blanket being wrapped around her. She looked up to see that it was the 7-year-old boy she had met before.  
"What are you doing out here?" She asked, rather startled.  
"I knew you would be cold, and as your attendant, I came to give you that blanket." He replied with a smile. She hadn't seen a smile that she liked since the two little girls gave her water on her way to Zoid Eve. (Episode 63 - Final Battle). She felt at peace with his smile, but when Hiltz smiled, she wasn't at peace, nor when Raven or Fiona smiled, not even when Specula smiled, was she truly at peace. But this boy, those two girls, made her feel at peace. Why? Was she tired of fighting? Other than those two experiences, when was the last time she felt at peace?  
"Thank you for the blanket, you may go now." She smiled at him; he smiled back, turned and left, with the green organoid following him. "Hmm, I wonder why that organoid is following him and not the other man I saw." This was a small matter though, and she began to think again about what she had heard. The new Humans on Zi were put here as test subjects to see if they could survive, they were like the ancient zoidians in the sense of being lab rats. "Maybe we can try to 'convert' them into zoidians, or whatever the correct term is. But what am I saying, I'm making it sound like being a zoidian is some sort of religion. Still, there must be a way that we can change their genetics. We would just need that chemical. Oh well. I shouldn't have sent that kid away, I would have asked him if there was a place for me to stay. I suppose I don't mind the out doors." She had said this loud enough for her 7-year-old attendant to hear her, that he came over to take her to where she would be staying.  
They began to walk past a few buildings. Reese finally started a conversation with the only question that came to mind.  
"So, what's your name?" She asked  
"Locke" He replied.  
"Who's the organoid? Have you come up with a name?"  
"Yes, he's Link. That name was deicide by my parents' years ago. He used to be theirs."  
"I see, well, even if you are my attendant, you might not know my name. It's Ryss, and this is my organoid Specula. I don't know when her name was decided. Who are your parents? Did they make you my attendant?"  
"I don't have any parents, I don't know what happened to them, but I've been told that they were dead, left behind, didn't come with us in the capsules." He said sadly.  
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know that." Was all she could say. But he shook his head.  
"No, I'm used to it, it's ok. I'm fine." He showed her to her house, and explained that even though she was queen, she wouldn't have her own cooks and such for a while, while every thing was getting organized, and Reese said that would be fine, and he left.  
"Locke and Link" She thought. "That really does sound like a dangerous duo, and probably will be one day."  
  
* * * * *  
  
A few more weeks went by, and Van found himself riding his liger in the middle of the desert. His mission was to get yet another solder into the military. "It'll be more of a beg rather then an invitation, I just know it, but Herman said it was 'of utmost importance' that he joins." He thought to himself. He was positive that this would be a drag, and began to think if he could get killed trying to do this. "I've got to think straight, I don't think he would kill me, but he's just so unpredictable.  
He reached the house and got out of the liger. Though he had a stern face, he was pretty nervous. He hadn't seen the guy face to face for a while. "Well, I suppose its been about a year, but other than that, I haven't seen his actual face since we first met."  
He went up to the house, and knocked on the door. No answer. He knocked again, but still nothing. He knocked again, only to be greeted by silence. He knocked a forth time, only saying, 'This is Van of the Guardian Force, please answer.' But nothing happened. He reluctantly began to turn the knob, and open the door slowly. He peered in, but couldn't see much, except for a table at the end of the room. "Great, a greeting by darkness, he had better not try to scare me."  
He walked in slowly, looked for a switch, but couldn't find one. He walked in farther, but slowly, and the door slowly closed behind him, and shut, with a thud, and heard someone say behind him say, "Boo" In a un- amused-by-his-presence tone of voice.  
"Now what could Van Flihieght want with someone like me." Asked a not so curious Raven. "Make it quick" he added.  
"You are still as cold hearted as ever, aren't you?"  
"Hmm, and you are still as hot-headed as ever, your insults have changed a little bit though, I haven't heard you call me butt-face in a while."  
"Well if you miss it so much, I might just call you that again, if you wish it so, so badly."  
"Hmm, no thanks, coffee?"  
"No thank you."  
"Oh darn, I guess trying to poison you isn't going to work." He smirked at his comment, which didn't amuse Van.  
"I think I'll cut right to the chase, I've been sent here to.ask you into the army, and even the Guardian Force."  
Raven just stared at him. Just blankly stared at him. Van wasn't at all surprised with his stare, but he was surprised because he thought Raven was being trusted to quickly. Though Raven thought the same thing, he was rather happy for an offer like this. But decided to keep this going. "You know I'm surprised that someone like you, or anyone for that matter, would be asking someone like me to join the Guardian Force."  
"Believe me, so am I."  
Raven just smiled. He was happy that he would get to be in the Guardian Force. But still wanted to keep this going. "So, you don't want me to really join, do you? Are you afraid I'll take some title from you? You are the great Van Fliheight after all. I wouldn't want to ruin your reputation."  
"Well, in that sense I want you to join, what is the point of thinking I'm the best when my rival is just stepping down because I asked him to? That doesn't make me strong. However, to be very truthful and perfectly honest, I think your insane."  
Raven just smirked. "Yeah I love you too."  
Van stayed serious, he began to think if this was all a joke to Raven. And partly, it was, but he would say yes to his offer.eventually. But probably not right then, or even that year. Raven was honored he was being asked to take on such responsibility, but he also wanted to get his life back in order first. Seeing that Van was getting tired of the conversation, he decided to let him go, and he would give him his answer another time.  
"Alright, I'll think about it, but I might not say yes till ten years from now. I have other things I want to do, and no, they wont put me in jail. But if some big menace comes up, I'll help you out, but don't come if it is a small task you can't handle already."  
"I see," said Van, "I suppose I should be going then." He began to leave, when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and saw that Raven had extended a hand to him.  
"Hey, just let me know that there is a truce between us."  
Van just stared at the hand before him. Raven frowned, and backed it away.  
"It's alright, I understand. It is kind of hard to trust someone who has been doing just about everything to kill you for three years." He turned around and began to walk away, only to be stopped by a hand on his shoulder, and found that Van extended his hand to Raven. "Truce?" Asked Raven.  
"Truce" Repeated Van. "You know, that cup of coffee does sound pretty good. I haven't had any in a while."  
"Alright, you hungry to?"  
Van shook his head.  
"Okay then, coffee for two."  
Soon they were sitting at the table, sworn enemies, drinking coffee. Shadow had curled up under the table, and Van and Raven talked mildly. They didn't say a whole lot, until Van brought up a subject that had been bothering him for a while.  
"Raven, who are your parents, and what were they like? What were you like as a child?"  
Raven didn't answer, but stared into his cup. Van was about to change the subject, when he began.  
"It began with my mother and father working with an organoid-" And he told Van everything that had happened. He told him about Van's father, but neither of them knew that Van's was the same man that would have taken care of Raven that was taking care of Van at the time.  
Van's mouth was wide open; he had no idea that Raven held such a dark past, he assumed he had a small one, but one like this was almost hard to believe. It was baffling how much this one man had gone through over his life.  
"So as you can see, I've only ever had one person I could love and love me back.Shadow."  
"Wow, no wonder you were so spiteful, what about the other solder that helped you? Who was it?"  
"I don't know, I heard that he had died, taking down a lot of Imperial solders with a single command wolf. I think his name was Dan."  
"Wait, he sounds a lot like my dad, you don't think he was the one who helped you?"  
"Actually, now that I picture him and you, you really do look alike, him being a lot older, but still."  
They were both utterly amazed at how close they would have been to being friends.  
"So pretty much, if Prozen hadn't taken me, we would have been best friends instead of worst enemies." Asked Raven.  
"That's what it sounds like."  
"It makes me wish that the safety lock wouldn't have been on that gun, I would have shot him and none of the bases I destroy or people killed wouldn't be gone, but I guess I have always wished that the safety lock hadn't been on, come to think of it."  
"Well, just remember, wallowing in regret won't get you anywhere."  
"So true, I should know."  
"I guess I'll be going, I'll return, and hopefully you'll have things sorted out by then."  
"We'll see."  
Van got into his Blade Liger, and rode off to the west.  
"Raven, all these years we have hated each other, we've been out for the others blood, and many times, I've seen how fortunate I was that neither of us died. You always spared me for some reason and for that, I thank you. Prozen stopped us from being the best of friends, hopefully we can mend the relationship that always should have been there, and maybe, at least be good friends, at the very least."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Van, I used to harbor so much anger toward you, I hated every fiber of your being, anything that had something to do with you, I hated. I can't remember why all these times, I let you go, I didn't kill you back then, and for that I am thankful toward myself. Thank you for finally being able to trust me."  
"Are you really going to be friends with him?" asked Shadow. He wasn't used to seeing his master like this, but for some reason, he liked it."  
"Yes, I'm sure he will be able to trust me, I know that I'll trust him. But I wonder why his organoid wasn't with him. Oh well, I'm sure there was a good reason. I hope your alright with me being friends with him."  
"Yes, I just find it hard to believe that you would be friends with him at all, or anyone for that matter. You know, you sound like a kid when ever you say you want to be friends with him."  
"Just making up for lost time Shadow."  
Shadow just smiled.  
  
* * * * *  
  
At that moment, there was another meeting going on, going on way in the sky.  
"Well Dr., this desert wasteland of a planet may be big, but it won't be able to hold a lot of people like it used to, will it?" Asked Commander Gary Shuttle.  
"Look, I'm sure that the planet will be able to regain some of it's vegetation in its healing process. And besides, only the spoiled would find it impossible to live here, it isn't that hard. A lot of people can live and survive here, I'm sure of it, especially with the technology we have with us." Replied Dr. Randal VI.  
"Maybe, but I suppose it might be worth taking over."  
"Are you ready to begin?" asked the Doctor, sounding a little edgy.  
"No sir, I'm not ready to begin the take over."  
"What do you mean?"  
"The attack squad that I had summoned for won't be arriving for a while. Apparently the war in the Drukon sector will be going on for some time and the solders we need will be fighting for a while." Explained the commander.  
"I see, so how long do you think you can get a good attack force ready?"  
"I'd have to say in the next 25 years or so."  
"25 years?!?"  
"Yes, besides, what's the rush? This planet needs to heal a little bit more, I don't think it can handle another war." Said the commander, also asking if the Dr agreed.  
"I suppose, but I want to take over this planet, my ancestors tried long ago, but those barbaric zoidians were to full of themselves to share. I hear that a colony of them has been discovered, and its beginning to worry me."  
"Don't worry, even if there is an army of them, they won't stop us."  
"Yes they will. Commander, believe me, the technology of zoids is beyond what I've ever seen. If you haven't seen them in action, I guarantee that you will be amazed. The wars you are fighting now would be won in the twinkling of an eye."  
"Really?"  
"Yes, if you had the technology, your superiors would begin to feel inferior. You would be promoted, the sooner you do it, the better, before other technologies develop to far, I suggest you get a hold of this."  
  
The commander thought this over. He knew the Dr's history, how his ancestors and family name had been humiliated at losing such great technology and the planet. But the fact was, no one was in a rush for finding room for a billion people. Way back then, when Zi had been just discovered, the earth was losing all the space it once had, and it needed room for everybody, and Zi was perfect back then. But now, there were 17 new planets. Even though there weren't any new plants being discovered, no one would need another planet for a while.  
Still, if what the doctor was true, he could be living the good life, and all his worries would be gone, he could see great fortune in his future.  
"Alright, I'll try to get some solders sometime soon. However, that might not be for another 15 years, I think I know where I can get some."  
"Perfect." The Doctors eyes became full of greed and excitement. He could finally have the revenge he wanted. "Just be warned, the zoidians might strike at the humans we have down there, and when they begin to move, it might be to late, they might become friends, and vicious toward us."  
"Don't worry, I can handle them."  
"We shall see." Muttered Randal. 


	4. Deep Reflections and Insecurities

Chapter 4 - Deep Reflections and Insecurities  
Ryss woke up the next morning about mid afternoon. She had been out for a while, so it wasn't a surprise that the clock was now saying 11:30. She thought that she would explore the house that was given to her. It was pretty spacious, but she didn't have much, so it didn't really matter to her. It was a four-room house, a kitchen, a dinning room, a bedroom, and just another room for whatever. Her personal tour turned out to be quite short, she decided to boil some water as to make some tea.  
"I wonder," she thought, "does everybody live separately with their families? I guess there are probably a few apartment buildings." It was only a small matter to her, not because she was cruel, but she assumed that it would be put under different management or brought to her if she was to be a queen. She began to think about what was happening, what had happened, and what everybody could be doing right then. Van was probably being a good solider for the Guardian Force; Raven might be a mercenary somewhere.  
She thought about Raven for a while. Was he a changed person? He had helped Van destroy the Death Saurer, but that was pretty obvious why. He had saved her once, and she had actually been rather mean to him. She forced him to look into his past, something he had never wanted to go back to, something he had worked so hard to not think about, and she forced him to look upon it again. And yet, he saved her from the Death Stinger at the ruined Republic? She wondered why he had tried to kill her before with the Geno Breaker's Charged particle cannon, and later on saved her?  
"Oh well," she thought, "He's no longer apart of my life, and it won't help to think about him." Her thoughts turned to another person she knew well. Fiona. What was she doing now? She seemed to be closely into the Guardian Force, her job being an engineer and a monitor for battles, mostly with the Geno Breaker, or she was a monitor for Van, giving him the location of his enemies and also giving him the status of his Liger. "That may be good to have, I should make a mental note if we get caught up in a war that she would be an invaluable ally to have."  
Locke came in. "Tea?" Ryss offered.  
"No thank you," He Replied, "I've already had lunch, I just came in to see if you were awake."  
"I see," she said as she poured herself a glass, "What are you up to?"  
"Well, when I said I was your attendant, I was telling you what I was told, but they probably wanted me to make sure you got accustomed to this place a tad bit, but now I have been put into a training camp for Zoid piloting."  
"Going to be a Zoid pilot?"  
"I already am.just not a very good one. Still, they predict I am going to excel at it more than most. I can't wait to see if there prediction comes true or not." He replied.  
"Can you tell me what my role is going to be for this new Zoidian race?" She asked.  
"Hmm, I can say for sure, but I don't think we used the proper term when we used 'queen', the way I understand it, as we get more leader types into our government, your power will decrees, and most likely you'll be in a high place in the military, because of your clever and crafty ways of battle, according to Hiltz anyway, you are an excellent strategist. But like I said, your power will decrees as more come into the government, because right now, we are in what seems to be, in udder chaos."  
"You seem to know a lot for you're age, don't you think?"  
"Well, I do know a lot because of Victor, the guy you were talking to last night, he tells me a lot of these things, and all I do is just remember them. He was a good friend of my parents, so he is kind of like an uncle to me."  
"I see, well that sure helps me grasp the situation a little bit better. Thank you." She said.  
"No problem, I suppose I should be going, Victor might want to talk to you, and he will probably be able to explain it to you better in 30 minutes then I could if I talked for three days, so I guess I'll be going."  
"Alright then, I guess I'll see you around."  
"Till another time." He said, and left the house.  
She sipped her tea once more, and began to reflect. She reflected on her own life, if it had been a good one so far. She began to try and remember the reason why she had fought along side Hiltz. She often came back to this question. It bothered her, and even if she came up with a reason that seemed to best fit, she kept coming back to the question, trying to think of a better reason.  
"Did fighting ever make me that happy?" She pondered this and sipped her tea. When she had finished with her tea, nothing had come to her that time of reflection. She put the cup on a nearby counter and was going to go look for Victor when he knocked and came through the door himself. "That's rather convenient." She thought.  
"Well, I take it that sleeping beauty has had enough sleep for the next hour." He said sarcastically.  
"I take it you are going to explain to me everything else that we hadn't talked about last night?" She said, ignoring his last comment."  
"What do you want to know?" he asked, part of the reason he had stopped was because he didn't think that anything else he had to offer would interest her anyway.  
"How about the humans we have on Zi presently, what are we going to do about them?"  
"Well, I am not sure, you might have thought of them like us, being used by someone else. It does seem unfair for them to die when they probably didn't have another choice but." He paused a bit, and then went on, "As has been said, even if they survive, the superiority of the Zoidians because of the chemical will create tremendous jealousy, it would be a disaster, we would probably hunted down like animals, and probably see no end of it."  
"Maybe, when do you think a decision should be made?"  
"Who knows? I also came to tell you that there has been some activity in the atmosphere, the biggest problem being we have spotted a juggernaut up there too, it could hold many troops if that is what they are carrying. I am guessing that if their intensions were to attack this planet, they would come in about 7 years."  
"Uh-huh," she said thoughtfully, "so we had better start preparing." She asked.  
"Already started, we will need you to come and monitor everything that is going on: Training simulations, weapons testing, ECT."  
"Very well." She agreed, "Let us go, we have much work to do, and not much time to do it."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Two months had gone by since the destruction of the killing machine, the Death Saurer. Van Fliheight now at the rank of a commander, was about to start yet another day in the Guardian Force. He was pretty excited about his mission. Just to guard a Gustave from harm, and where it was delivering its valuable cargo was near his hometown, the Wind Colony. After his mission, he would head back home for a while and help out his sister if she needed any help. It would almost be time to go, he would need to be there by about 8:00 a.m. He called to Zeek and started heading for the Blade Liger.  
Fiona had sent Zeek back to Van, he wasn't sure why, all she said was that it would help a lot if he had Zeek instead of her, not because he got in the way, but he was more of a fighting tool, something she didn't need now. Zeek wasn't offended, he could understand why she needed to send him to Van, and he understood the other reason why she gave him to Van. Of course, Van didn't know, but that wouldn't be very important.  
He began to think about how he had come this far, from when Zeek first resurrected the Shield Liger (Episode 1), to him being a commander now. Time really flew; it was only about 5 years since the Shield Liger had been resurrected for the first time. (Chaotic Century and Guardian Force have a 4-year split in my opinion, even though they put it a year, Van changes too much for it to be one year.)  
He got into the Blade Liger and started moving out. When he came to the transporter, it was already loaded up and ready to go. "I haven't done a convoy mission before, it might be fun, but when you think about it, chances are, it will be very boring." He smiled to himself at how had sounded like Irvine right then.  
And he was correct, nothing happened during the 4 hours, except having chats with the transporter pilot. All they really talked about was how peace was finally returning to the land after much fighting. Other than that, there was nothing to be said about the trip.  
  
* * * * *  
Even after two months since the Death Saurer's demise, Alisee Lanet could still smell the war that had been waged on the planet for about a year. The Death Saurer still was a ruling thought inside her mind, she could not stop thinking about it. It was almost like the plague of bad memories had poisoned her mind ever since she had first remembered the beast. It was tormenting her, having to think about the pain it had caused many. She was almost able to feel the sadness, the hurt, and the injury, inside of every soul that had ever been touched by its aura of death. However, there was one thing that would take it off of her mind, another thing seemed to take away the painful thought. Children.  
Ever since the Death Saurer had been defeated, she went to orphanages all over Zi, Helping out in anyway she could. It suited her better than almost any other job she had had in the Guardian Force.  
Fiona continued to chop the vegetables for the soup she was making. A little boy came into the kitchen.  
"Mama, I'm hungry," Complained the 5 year old.  
"Yeah" Second a little girl, about the same age, "I'm hungry too."  
It seemed like no matter where she went, all the kids called her mama, and it didn't take long to get used to, but the people she had worked with never got the same title of 'mama' or 'papa'. She assumed that it was just a way she had with kids."  
"Alright, I'm almost done, just give me a little longer and I'll be finished." Replied Fiona, Her response lit the faces of the two, and they ran out of the kitchen with glee. Fiona smiled, the sight of a smiling child, it really did cure a hurting soul.  
Fiona had quit being a combat analyst after about 2 weeks of the Death Saurer's reign ended. It only intensified the hate inside of her, the hate for fighting. She almost had lost it; she just couldn't take it anymore. After she started going to orphanages that were in dire need of assistance, she told Zeek to go back to Van, Zeek had become a war tool in her eyes, rather a friend, and a war tool was something she didn't want or need. Zeek understood and obeyed.  
Fiona took the hot soup out into the dining room of the building, and took it to a table with 12 hungry kids seated ready and waiting. One of the attendants came up to her with a baby over his shoulder.  
"Fiona, would you mind giving Alison a bath here? She seems to like you best." He asked.  
"I'd be happy to." She replied with a smile, and took the infant with her. When she put her in the tube she decided to wait till she was done having fun to bathe her then.  
"Yes," she said to no one in particular, "This is what I should be doing, the way it was meant to be. Doing what makes me the happiest, and the thing that makes me at piece." And she smiled to her self for a long time at that moment.  
  
* * * * *  
"Shadow, what do you think I should do? Should I really trust my self with a Zoid?" Raven asked the dark organoid standing beside them. Every night for the past two months, Raven looked up at the stars. They and Shadow were his only true friends. He looked at the lights in the sky. Every night they comforted him, and yet, every night, they danced before him, because of the reflection from the tears in his eyes.  
"It's completely up to you, where you go, I follow." Shadow replied.  
"Let me ask you something else, why are you loyal to me? I make a sudden change, not to destroy any more bases or take any more lives. You loved it when I did that, and all of a sudden, I stop, and you don't seem to mind and stay completely faithful. Why?" He asked, very interested in the organoids answer.  
However, Shadow didn't reply, Raven would ask him this question every now and then, never in a rude tone, but in a very tone that made him sound interested. He would repeat the question word for word, but every time Shadow never said anything. Raven didn't mind though, he trusted Shadow, and trusted the organoid's loyalty.  
"I guess it all depends on what your intensions for the Zoid are." Said Shadow, "And whether or not you believe they are right."  
"Maybe, I suppose that makes sense." He said as he continued to look up, awing the beauty of the stars. 


	5. The Short Ten Years

Authors note: Oh yeah, for those of you who want battles, I'm not to good with names of guns and missiles, but I'll try!  
LockeLink  
  
Chapter 5 - The Short Ten Years  
"Look, if that's all you got, I'm never going to let you down for it." Laughed Locke.  
"Hey, you have the advantage, our weapons were turned off for this practice!" Said a half-frustrated Mark.  
Locke was now 17 years old. It had been 10 years since he had been taken out of his pod, and trained, day and night, to be a superior Zoid pilot. It had been hard and rough, but thanks to his best friend; Mark, It stayed interesting and always was a challenge. The two had met each other when Victor called the two of them to his office. They were some of the most gifted pilots, and would be together for a while.  
After that, they had learned that they were almost like twins, except Mark had Black hair and Blue eyes. They were almost the same age, off by about a month, and there skills were completely matched. Though the two were thought to be twins, but testing showed that they were as distantly related as they could get. Also, Mark was a little more laid back than Locke. Locke was more of a hotshot in competition. Mark tried his best but didn't get as excited, unless fighting Locke. They were so close of friends and so huge of rivals, it would take many people hours to comprehend how such a relationship could exist.  
They also used different Zoids. Locke's favorite was the Zaber Fang. It's maneuverability and its quick speeds at short notice were his way of fighting. Also it's teeth and claws were a huge advantage if he ran out of ammunition. It suited him better than any Zoid he had come by. Mark's favorite Zoid on the other hand was the Shield Liger. It's Shield and Armor had helped him countless amount of times for endurance and survival.  
  
However, whenever the two fought each other with their weapons turned off, Locke always had the advantage, when it was the other way around, they were on Mark's turf, penetrating a shield was very difficult, especially when the pilot knew how to conserve his or her shield energy.  
Locke charged at the Shield Liger again. "If you don't start trying soon, I'm going to grind you into the dust.HARD."  
The shining claws of the Zaber Fang came tearing for the shield liger only to slash the wind and the dust below it as the Shield Liger made another evasive maneuver, hopping backward. Unfortunately for Mark, the Zaber Fang was able to get it's hind legs to the ground about the same time the Shield Liger landed and the Zaber Fang lunged at the Liger once more. Mark never anticipated this and ended up crashing to the ground.  
The Zaber Fang gave out a triumphant roar to its newly achieved victory. A voice came over the intercom from a base not to far monitoring the battle.  
"Congratulations Locke, once again, you were able to successfully use the maneuverability to your Zoid to bring down your opponent. And as for you Mark, you did very well to dodge all the attacks, however that last dodge was to far of a hop. You should have cut that jump about a ¼ of that distance, then you could have made a counter attack, but you did a very good job."  
"Thanks Victor," Said Locke. (Same Victor from my other chapters) "Hey Mark, you alright?" Locke asked. He was sure he would, Mark was a real stickler when it came to buckling up. And the fall wasn't that hard.  
"Yeah" he said without any sound of pain. "But don't think I'm down already. He said as he immediately got up, "I won't go down just because you rudely bumped into me."  
"I want to see you two fight with all weapons and shields you may have on you this time." Said Victor.  
"Sure thing," said Mark  
"Why not?" responded Locke.  
And the battle commenced. Locke fired the pulse lasers at the liger and jumped into the air at that moment, its destination to land on top of the Shield Liger as it recoiled from the lasers. The Shield Liger anticipated the attack from the Zaber Fang and ducked to avoid the shots then dashed forward right under the Zaber Fang to avoid being tackled. It Dug its claws into the ground and turned sharply 180 degrees and fired a couple missiles hitting the right rear leg of the Zaber Fang.  
"Luck, it was all luck." Locke muttered to himself. He quickly turned and fired, only this time remaining stationary and also shooting just below the cockpit of the Liger. Mark never saw it coming. He consequently suffered a direct shot to the cockpit when he tried to duck, stunning him for a second, giving Locke the opportunity of ramming the Liger or slashing it with the Zaber's claws. Instantly going in a sprint, he charged at the Liger, never anticipating what was coming next.  
When Mark felt the shock of getting hit directly, he knew that he would get rammed, or at least something to that effect, almost unconsciously he turned on his shield and charged forward. When the Liger had gotten hit, the wind pressure from the shot had brought up enough sand for either pilot to see the other. The two collided, only Locke felt any pain, Mark only felt an energy drop from his shields. The collision of the two Zoids had been hard enough that the Zaber Fang's face got smashed a little bit, plus it gave the Zaber a Command System Freeze. It wasn't to bad, but it looked almost like the cockpit had almost jutted inward slightly.  
"Locke! Locke, can you hear me?!?" Mark yelled. Locke didn't respond.  
"Locke! Come on! I didn't want you to die! Wake up!" He screamed.  
  
"You worry to much Mark," Laughed Locke, "I considered seeing you get weepy-eyed, but that would have been cruel."  
"You're silence WAS cruel." Exclaimed Mark.  
Locke smirked. "Oh alright, I won't do that again if you don't."  
"Done." Agreed Mark.  
"Locke, are you there?" Asked Victor.  
"Yeah I'm here." Responded Locke.  
"Good, I think that we will call it a wrap for today, won't you agree?"  
"Sure," Said Locke.  
"Fine by me." Mark Agreed.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Reese walked into the control tower at the base that was monitoring the finished battle.  
"The way those two fight makes me worried sick sometimes." She said sounding annoyed.  
"They'll be fine, still, I can't deny that I was worried myself." Replied Victor.  
"Now is not the time we are going to need them to sit in hospitals. For a while I don't want those two doing one on one battles, lets pair them up so they can sharpen their team work." She commanded.  
"If you think it would be a wise idea, it's fine with me." Victor responded, "However I can't help notice that you seem very worried. What happened recently?" He inquired.  
"They've landed, the solders from earth are here. However, I think that they landed near the Guylos continent. With any luck, they are going to mistake those humans for Zoidians, or one side will threaten the other causing a new chaotic war, and we will have more time to get our act together."  
"Sounds sweet &sour, the question is, which is it more?" Victor asked curiously. Reese thought only for 3 seconds.  
"Sour." She said without hesitation.  
Victor smiled. "You aren't going to be pessimistic now, are you?"  
"Maybe, I want to see Locke and Mark later this evening. Have them drop by then."  
"Will do." Said Victor.  
Reese left the tower, and Victor watched a Gustave go and fetch the injured Zaber Fang. Reese had really shown Victor a lot of respect. He was an excellent consoler for her, and in some ways a friend. Though his field was training Zoid pilots, the wisdom for points of defense and tactics for offence was great enough that anyone would have thought he had done it for years. Though no one was sure, the truth was he had only done it briefly and decided that training pilots was in a bigger portion of his interests and talent. He loved to see his pilots' progress. He wasn't too bad of one himself, just not as good as some would see him as so.  
  
* * * * *  
  
10 Years. How they had gone by so quickly. In a time of peace, time slips through your fingers like grains of sand. But during war, it seemed to stand still. A time of peace was a time of change for young and old alike. Dr. D was now dead, along with the former Madam President. They were both buried near the rebuilt Republican Capital. The new President was the Female attendant that had been with Herman's mother through out her career. She was also with Herman's Father for a time. Both the Empire and the Republic were not only allies with each other, but also friends. No one had disturbed the Peace for a while since the Death Saurer was destroyed. For ten years, no one destroyed, killed, or anything to that extreme for ten years. It made everyone nervous in a way. Rudolph was now an adult. He was married to Mary Anne, and they already had a 5-month-old son. With Rudolph no longer being 14, Assassinations no longer seemed necessary, seeing that he hadn't messed anything up ever, even as a 'little kid'.  
With no one disturbing the peace, there would be no need for the Guardian Force. Though he was only on stand by and still getting paid, Van went on what seemed like a permanent vacation. His contract would expire very soon, and Van would either need to continue to serve in the military, or just stay in the Wind Colony and work there. He was a General now in the military, but that wasn't too exciting.  
Needless to say, Van was happy where he was, he had almost completely forgotten about Fiona, but some things never go away. Zeek was still with Van, and probably always would be.  
As for Fiona, she was still going to orphanages, every time she left, the kids were sad to see her go, and to her surprise, when she came back, everyone of them looked as though they had been sitting there waiting for years. They loved her and she loved them.  
Neither Irvine nor Moonbay had been heard from in ten years. Thomas was also a General in the Military, always concentrated on his duties. Everyone else was doing the same old thing they had been doing for years except for Cruger. Though old he was still alive. He probably wouldn't survive another year, but planet Zi was now in very dependable hands and at peace, a peace that would last for a long time. Or so they thought.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Dr. Randal Sir! We are ready to deploy at anytime now." Said a very eager solder.  
Over the years, the Dr. had been gathering Zoid Technology for the invasion so that they might stand a chance in the war. A single Guysack could have defeated Randal in his inferior weaponry if the pilot was half decent. With the new Rev Raptor and Dark Horn technology, plus with superior numbers, Randal thought he was going to win this war for sure.  
The head quarters of these newcomers was on the third continent of Zi, the continent Wasteland. Like it's name, all it was was a wasteland, no one could travel through there alone for more then 2 days it was so hot and so dry. However, to Randal, it wouldn't matter, He would soon have his revenge and probably a high reward for the technology he would acquire here. Needless to say, he could barley contain his excitement.  
"Begin the invasion, destroy every last person on this planet!" He commanded.  
  
Yay! The first battle in this fiction! I'm not half bad either, or not as bad as I thought. Anyway thanks again for reading my fiction, and I do hope your enjoying it! Stay tuned, or, in Internet terms, stay connected for my next chapter!  
  
LockeLink 


	6. The Race for Alisee Lanet

**Chapter 6 – The Race for Alisee Lanet**

"Good After noon, Mark, Locke." Greeted Ryss. "I need you two boys to do something **very** important for me. As you might have already known, we are on the brink of war. Humans from Earth have come back to Zi to claim it for whatever proposes, luckily, we foresaw this. However, we were ignorant enough to forget one person out in the foreign lands. Alisee Lanet, I need you two to go and retrieve her for me. She will be rather reluctant, but do what you can to have her come with you, even if it means force. She will be thanking you soon enough. Oh, and you'll use your usual zoids, Zaber Fang and Shield Liger of course." She explained in one go. It was rather sudden for Mark and Locke, usually, they had small chats, and then they would get to the real reason they had been called. Plus, the instructions were a bit confusing to follow, not to difficult, but they weren't able to catch everything at once because they were so surprised.

"...Um.... could you run that by us again?" Asked Locke rather politely.

"Look," she said, "She is just another zoidian out there, she is one of us, if we just left her out there in the middle of a war...I shudder to think about it really. She is completely defenseless, and also..."

"Also?" Asked Mark

"For some reason, I think that...well..." She paused again. Mark and Locke were getting rather impatient. It was irritating to have to listen to someone who wasn't even sure if they wanted to tell you or just weren't prepared enough to be able to explain it.

Finally she spoke. "She is a zoidian of great power. It may not be a destructive power, but it is power nonetheless. I feel that it will be very important for us to rescue her soon, and you too need experience out in foreign lands. To keep a low profile, trying to get directions from towns people who aren't sure sometimes if they can trust you." Ryss continued. "Anyway, she looks like this."

A screen popped up behind her. She looked like she was smiling at something, but you couldn't tell what. It was an overhead shot looking down at her so you could only see sand. Mark found her to be rather beautiful, but kept his opinion to himself. Locke just saw her as another ordinary woman out in the world.

"When will we be leaving?" Asked Locke.

"Right now." Replied Ryss.

"I see, how shall we get to the other continent, and where are our zoids for the mission?" Asked Locke, he was one who went straight to the point.

"In hanger level A3 you will find your zoids, and you will be using a Gustave adapt at water transportation." She informed them. "Any other questions?"

"No," responded Mark. "You've informed us quite enough, or at least me anyway." He looked at Locke.

"I agree," Said Locke, "Except, how urgent is this? Will the enemy be close to getting her first? Besides, as long as the Earth Army confuses humanity on Zi for other Zoidians it's not like they will hunt her down right away."

"It's not so much the Earthlings as it is for the Humans on Zi.. When they find out the real objective of this invasion, many might go for her and hand her over to the earthlings, even if she is protected by Van Flyheight." She stopped what she was saying for a minute. She had forgotten all about Van. The two boys wouldn't be able to match his strength, despite the fact they were Zoidians, he could still defeat them single handedly, they were good but not quite a legend like Van was. There was one thing, however, that she could be thankful for: his Zoid.

The Blade Liger was an evolved Zoid. There were three ways to evolve a Zoid. One was to wait a long period of time, like a normal human being, it would grow. However, this wasn't the course over a year, it was actually over a period of time for about 250 years or so, but the problem was, Zoids had only been in function for about 400 years, and for 250 years was how long the zoid needed to function. So there weren't many zoids like that: very few if any.

The second way was through an organoid. The organoid however, had to use the same Zoid the entire time. Each time an organoid fused with a Zoid, it would copy its genetic code of the Zoid, located in the Zoid core, into it's memory bank and try to find a way manipulate the zoid core in just the right places so as to not damage the core in anyway. When the organoid fused and spent time in the zoid core, it would collect the information little by little. The pilot could not rush this process. Organoids were capable of failure when they lacked the genetic info they needed and could completely shut the zoid down. Also when an organoid resurrected a zoid, it would need to take a lot of the genetic code to duplicate it and put it back. This allowed it to learn much more of the zoid.

The Third and final way was the bond between the Zoid and it's pilot, But this method had it's own problems; this bond didn't make the evolution happen over night. It would take the pilot at the very least 30 years to bond with the **same** zoid, and then the evolution would take about another 2 years to complete. This wasn't a circle of light or a crystal like the evolutions of Van and Raven. The pilot would be able to feel the evolution about to happen, unlike the clueless pilot with an organoid who's Zoid could begin to evolve at the wrong time.

The Blade Liger was a rare Zoid indeed. Only if Van used a different Zoid would they be force to fight him. But the chances were rather nil, and even if he did, he would be much weaker using a different Zoid against Mark and Locke.

"Just beware of the Blade Liger. Engaging it in combat is not an option, run whenever possible, do you hear me!" She said sounding a little frustrated. They both knew that this was her way of making sure that they understood the urgency of the order.

"You got it." Said Locke. "We'll have this girl back before she is harmed."

"Good, just make sure you get back here soon."

It was early morning. The President of the Republic would soon begin another busy day, unknowing of the emergency about to come to in. As soon as he sat down, he got a signal that someone wanted to talk to him over the screen. It was from the Capital of the empire, Gyloss. He acknowledged the signal and the screen showed Rudolph before him.

"Ah Rudolph, what has made you contact me?" Asked the president kindly.

"I have some bad news for you. Today at about 5 o'clock this morning, one of our bases that is on our border was attacked and destroyed. The attack force was quite large, we estimate it was about 200 Zoids consisting of Rev Raptors and Dark Horns. There were about 50 dark horns in the group to be specific. After the base was destroyed, the group seemed to have split itself in two, one heading west, toward Gyloss, one heading east, toward New Helic City." Explained Rudolph.

"Hmm, I see, but I think that if they split their resources, whoever they are, we should have an easier time dealing with them." Said the President.

"I thought that too. That attack had come from the south, near the sea. Unfortunately, we have also spotted another strike force, with the same amount of Zoids, coming north from the sea. They also seem to be heading toward one of your bases, I thought that you might like to know."

"I see, I must thank you for your warning. However, do you know who is behind this?" Asked the president."

"No, I have no idea. We are trying to get a hold of any authority they might have, but whatever kind of communications link we give them, they just ignore it, I think that they are out for blood, and lots of it." Rudolph replied, grimly.

"I'm guessing that the situation is very serious. Still, those Zoids won't hold a candle to some of the other Zoids we have. Do you think they pose that much of a threat?"

"I don't know, we are already sending scouts out over the sea and all over the empire to see if we can find any more suspicious activity." Said Rudolph.

"Alright then, thank you for the advice, I shall use it well."

Rudolph nodded and the transmition was cut. He then opened a link to Captain Herman. It was answered immediately.

"Ah! Mister President, how can I help you?"

The President explained everything that had been told to him, and then added, "I want you to send scouts through out the land and ready the Guardian Force."

"Yes sir!" Responded Rob. He saluted and the transmition ended.

Back at the Wind Colony, Van Fliheight the great hero continued to pull out the weeds in the garden next to his house.

"OW! That's go to be the 17th thorn!!!" He shouted in minimal yet what seemed extreme pain."

Maria just continued to hang the laundry while Zeek ran around in circles attempting to either maul or eat his newly found butterfly.

"There has got to be a faster way to do this!" He wasn't sure why he looked in the direction he did when he said that, but he had just found his next brilliant idea. He said it aloud as if he thought the whole world needed to know of his greatest discovery.

"I'll bet the blade liger could-

"NOT funny Van." Shouted Maria.

"...Oh alright." Said Van reluctantly. "I should be piloting Zoids not pulling up weeds. I'll bet dad never had to do this." He thought to himself.

They both worked in silence for about another 15 minutes. Though it was rather bothersome to do a simple task he wasn't used to, Van had to admit that being home was really what he wanted. Being away from all the action was good, or at least it would be good for a while. He wasn't quitting Zoid piloting however, not by a long shot.

It was only about 3 years ago that the Guardian Force had been disbanded, it would quickly rise up again and fight for the planet Zi whenever necessary, unknown to Van, the peaceful days he had spent in the Wind Colony would abruptly end, and he would soon find himself in the fray of battle.

The village priest came up behind Van and watched him pick at weeds that would only come up and then break before it would get to the root, then he would have to dig after it again. The priest bent down beside him, kind of startling Van, and took a weed and pulled up the entire root.

"How does he do that?!?" Van thought to himself.

"Not to much of a green thumb I see, I don't think it would hurt you to have a few lessons in gardening." He smiled at Van, and Van smiled back.

"Ha ha, so what are you doing here, I know it wasn't me."

"Ah yes, but it is about you."

"Really? Go on."

"There have been attacks lately of rather big forces of Zoids against bases on both Republican and Imperial territory. The sizes of these armies are about 100 Zoids each. They are beginning to put Guardian Force members back on duty, this problem is rather serious."

"You must be joking, only 100 Zoids? How many of these armies are there?"

"I don't know, but the numbers keep growing. The main reason they want the Guardian Force on full alert right now is probably because these armies have also been annihilating entire villages. Whether there is resistance or not, either way, it gets completely destroyed."

"That can't be." Said Van to himself.

"I know it is pretty disappointing to have lived peacefully for a few years and then go right back into battle, but this is pretty urgent."

"Should I leave immediately? Asked Van.

"A long enough time to say your good-byes."

"I see, thank you for your trouble. I'll go get ready." Said Van.

"My troubles?" Thought the Priest, "My troubles don't seem to match yours on any scale my friend, unless you count me having to tell you this bad news myself, that still doesn't hold a candle to your troubles." He smiled. "He really has changed, his father would be really proud."

Van entered his house for the last time in a long time. It was really sudden, but he really didn't have much time. He knew that he should have considered himself lucky to be home for that long of a time, but it still seemed rather irritating that he would all of a sudden have to leave it behind him. Maria came into his room as he started packing.

"I saw you talking with the priest just now." She said. Only silence gave her a response. "Your leaving, aren't you?" She asked uneasily.

Van sighed, "I am." He said.

"I see," she said, "Even after all this time you need to go." She smiled, "But you enjoy your work, don't you?"

"Yeah," He said, "I guess I do. I asked for it after all. Still, I don't think a moment has gone by that I regret asking to be a Zoid pilot."

"That's good," Said his sister, "It will make me happier knowing that you yourself will be content with what you are doing."

He smiled, "Thanks, it will help to know that I have family supporting me."

They went outside and started walking to the Blade Liger. When they got near the giant machine, Van turned to Maria. They smiled at each other, and it wasn't long until they were hugging each other and weeping.

"I'll come back alive, you can count on that."

"I know you will do your best, but be careful of promises like that, whether you make them or they are made to you, just remember you have no assurances of tomorrow."

Van knew she meant her best wishes. "You mean to say you doubt me?" He asked sarcastically to lighten the mood. She smiled; he was still himself even during this hurtful goodbye.

"No, not at all." Said Maria. She watched him walk of into the distance and thought about the first time he had left the wind colony to become a better Zoid pilot. "He'll be just fine." She said to herself, "He has changed so much." She added.

**Well, how did you like it? I do hope you enjoyed yourself this chapter. Just so everyone knows, the battle scene I have been talking about since a couple chapters back was the practice match between Locke and Mark, just wanted to make sure everyone understood that. I know that I have been jumping around in the timetable these chapters; I hope I haven't confused anyone yet. Thanks again for reading!**

**LockeLink**


	7. Invaded Continent

**Hey there, thanks for reading chapter 7 of my fiction, just thought I would remind you that Locke pilots and Zaber Fang, and Mark pilots and Shield Liger. Now, back to the fiction!**

**Chapter 7 – Invaded Continent**

Locke and Mark had finally landed on the Imperial continent. After about 1 week at sea, they were finally back on land. The Gustave would only wait for about 1 month before turning around. They weren't worried at all though. They both knew that their destination, the orphanage, wasn't really far away, though there was a great distance and it would only take them less than two weeks. Still, they would hurry through the long desert, not taking their chances, knowing that they could be attacked at any given moment.

"Hey Locke, what do you think of that we are supposed to rescue?" Asked Mark.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"You know, she is pretty hot isn't she?"

Locke rolled his eyes, he didn't care for love, he didn't women, one of his best friends was female, but he didn't consider himself in love. He thought that love only got in the way. He didn't want to run the risk of getting heart broken.

"Mark, keep your love sick thoughts to yourself, and I'll keep my own, dutiful thoughts to myself."

Mark smiled; Locke was usually touchy when it came to love. Truthfully though, Locke just wasn't one for love, despite how friendly he really was.

"So, what is the plan from here?" Asked Mark

"Hmm, well, as I gaze at this map, I'm beginning to think that our original route may not be the best choice. There is a canyon up ahead that would cut off a small portion of time. But that would also be perfect for ambushing anyone passing by such as ourselves."

"Do you really think that a few punks and bandits could defeat us?" Asked Mark.

"I actually don't know," responded Locke, "But I suppose anything is possible. Depending on the situation, the number, and the skill we would be up against, I'd rather not take my chances. I'm also sure that Ryss wouldn't want us to take our chances."

"I don't think Ryss would be worried about this canyon mister pessimistic."

"Hmm," Thought Locke to himself, "I wish I could have his optimism, but it's always good to have one pessimist in a group."

Link had been on top of the Green Zaber Fang for a while now. All of a sudden he jerked his head up as if he had seen something. Locke felt his organoids reaction immediately.

"What's wrong Link?" Asked Locke.

"Someone's in trouble." Replied the organoid.

"That's all?" asked Locke, "I'm not interested, right now, and we have other things to do. Finding Alisee Lanet is the most important thing right now."

"It's a Gustave though, two trailers, and probably able to give us some sort of transportation and directions. Who knows? Maybe he will feel like giving us a ride after we help him, we could really find out a few things about this continent before we are done." Countered Link. Locke new he was right, he just didn't want to get involved in anything too big, nor have to give out any information about himself to the driver.

After giving it a little thought, Locke finally agreed.

"Mark, someone is in trouble north of us, lets see if we can help and he can give us some safe directions."

"Doesn't sound like a bad idea to me."

They turned to their left and started to head for the Gustave in need. They were soon in range to see that the Gustave was actually already carrying a full load, but was being chased by about three Zaber Fangs and two Shield Ligers. Though they didn't see anything else, they kept their guard up to avoid any sneak attack from a burrowed Zoid, Link fused with the Zaber Fang just to be ready. The Gustave was coming towards them.

"You two!" Yelled the Gustave's pilot, "Are you with them or not? I could really use some help!"

"It's a woman." Thought Mark.

"We will help them if you can give us some directions afterward." Responded Locke.

"Deal!" She shouted back, and drove past them. The five chasers stopped in front of the two Zoidians.

"Move or we will break every bone in your body and leave you to die!" Screamed one of the pilots.

"We will move if you tell us why you are giving chase to a defenseless civilian." Answered Locke calmly.

"She has some pretty valuable cargo, our gang could use ammunition like that." He said with a smirk. "And were not afraid to destroy law enforcers such as you two to get it!"

"Really? This should be interesting, 5 armature punks against 2 superior Zoid pilots like us could be lots of fun. But than again, just listening to you blab on and on about how tough you are gives me the idea that today won't be as exciting as I would have hoped.

The first pilots face turned beet red. He couldn't stand being made fun of, but that had really pushed him to the limits and beyond.

"MAKE THEM SUFFER BOYS!!!" he screamed with all of his strength.

All 5 Zoids ran straight for the 2, seemingly weak Zoids of Locke and Mark. The two charged as well only when they were about to collide, they both hopped over the other Zoids. Mark went clean over the gang, whereas Locke decided to take advantage of the moment and hopped onto a Zaber Fang's back, busting it up quite badly, and putting it out of commission.

"Four to go." Said Locke. But even as he was about to gloat, a Zaber Fang and a Shield Liger decided to continue the chase and the other two stayed behind to destroy Locke and Mark and pick up their fallen comrade.

"Behind us." Growled the Organoid.

"How would you -" Began Locke but stopped when he looked behind himself.

Sure enough, two more Desert Command Wolves had decided to join the Fray, they would reach the battlefield in less than a minute.

"How does he do that?" Locke asked himself

The Transporter looked behind her. "Just as I thought." She thought, "They probably didn't think those bandits would continue to chase me again, foolish to put my trust in those two, they did their best, but not much hope in them now. Oh well, got to continue on. I just hope the Gustave can go on till I get to another city with some sort of law enforcement."

"Commander Van Fliheight, Good to see you again." Welcomed Rob Herman.

"Good to see you too." Van replied with a smile. "How can I serve?"

"Well, after you are done kissing my boots and telling me what a great Colonel

I am, and then after that, you can start massaging my feet, and then there's my closet which actually–

"Uh, how about dealing with the immediate threat of this new organization which might be able to take out all of Zi?"

"What? Oh! Right! I had almost forgotten all about that I was having so much fun!" Replied the Colonel sarcastically.

Van just rolled his eyes. "What will you have me do first?"

"As much as I to make you back track, I need you to head out toward the Water Colony. It seems as though they are being targeted next, or at least soon anyway, they probably hope to take out one of our largest water supplies. The good news is that it isn't a water supply, just its name seems to hint something like that. What I want you to do is defend the people till evacuation vehicles can come and rescue all of the people."

"During these last few days," continued the Colonel, "This new army has swept through completely defenseless villages and colonies. Many have been completely destroyed. We need to stop this army and it's barbaric acts before things start to really get out of control."

"I understand." Said Van. "How many men am I taking?" He asked. "We actually can't give you anything with the exception of a new recruit."

"Hmm, well at least I'll have a little back-up, but he will probably just get in the way." Said Van with a little satisfaction and disappointment.

Rob just smiled. He went over to his desk and talked into a microphone. "Please send the new guy into my office." He ordered. "I don't think he'll get in your way Van, but I'll let you be the judge of that."

Van was really curious as to who this soldier was. He was surprised to see who it was.

"My my, you would think that I would be given a better title for my skill than just 'the new guy'. How's it going Van?" Asked the recruit.

"Van, I would like you to meet one of our best pilots in the Guardian Force, Raven."

Van just stood there for a moment. It would be rather interesting to see how they cooperate with each other, if at all.

"This is going to be like the times when Thomas and I first met." Thought Van to himself. "Uh, Herman? What was that about your closet?" Asked Van

"Haha, nice to see you too Van." Said Raven. Van smiled a smile that made him look like he was proud of his insult. Raven smiled; "Just don't get in my way." He quoted from what Van had just said.

"Either you know me very well, or you have been eves dropping this whole time, I have an idea which." Said Van.

"How about keeping it unsaid?" Asked Raven.

"These two are going to become fast friends." Thought Herman.

"Just remember, I'm going to be the one to defeat you in battle first." Said Raven.

"I guess I can always have my doubts" Thought Herman after hearing that last sentence.

"Uh" Herman said aloud, interrupting their conversation. "I think you guys can continue slamming each other on your way to the colony. Allow me to tell you all that will need to be watched/defended and the numbers you are going up against. There should only be about 25 Zoids, minus bandits. You two might be stuck together for a couple months. Van, I am also going to have to ask you to stay away from the wind colony until those 25 Zoids get there. In fact, it would be better if you could stay near the water colony until you are dismissed from your mission. All that is defenseless in your area is the Water colony, a couple homes nearby, and than an orphanage. I believe that Fiona is there, keep her safe incase she would help the archeologist team sometime in the future, she is an invaluable addition. I believe that is all, please get to the Water Colony A.S.A.P., you're dismissed."

Fiona looked out into the long desert. She became more bored with every dune that went by. She should have been to the next orphanage by now. She had run considerably late since there wasn't a single transporter willing to head west seeing as how invaders were coming from that direction, it just seemed like . Still Fiona was determined to get there, dissipate how suicidal it really was.

"So just because you want to be like a parent to these kids who don't have any, you are willing to face the danger of being killed? That's mighty noble of you." Said the transporter Roger who had happened to need to head out toward the water colony.

"Thank you, but it isn't a very hard decision, I just want to make every minute of their life full of joy, even if they are very limited. And besides, it raises the spirits of the workers their, knowing that someone out in Zi cares enough to come dissipate the danger. I imagine that many of them will leave fairly soon so they are going to need all the help they can get." Replied Fiona.

"You've got a good point there." Said Roger. They continued to ride in silence, and Fiona looked back out into the desert.

"I just hope they aren't too mad at me for running a week late" She thought to herself.

"What now Locke?" Asked Mark.

Now that 2 enemy Zoids had continued their chase of the Gustave, he didn't know what to do. If they split up, the one who stayed behind to fight would have to catch up to the other later one, not to mention finding their location if they ran to far away. Things didn't look good. The biggest problem was they had to react now, and Mark was more of a deep thinker rather than a quicker one.

"What do you mean 'what now?'" Asked Locke, "Were going to give chase as well, that way we can both keep up with the retreating Gustave, and still destroy our enemies one by one, till they give up, instead of splitting our resources. Even you should know that." Said Locke.

"How embarrassing." Thought Mark. "I SHOULD have thought of that."

By now the count were two Command Wolves, two Shield Ligers, and two Zaber Fangs. One of the Zaber Fangs and one of the Shield Ligers had decided to continue the hunt of the Gustave. Locke and Mark began to give chase and fired at the two enemy Zoids in front of them while being fired at from behind.

"Locke do we have a chance at this? Maybe we should just give up, this isn't working too well." Asked Mark.

"Are you kidding, I haven't had such a great challenge, other than facing you, in a while. Why stop?" He asked.

"Well alright."

But even as Mark agreed, the two Zoids in front of him were shot down. The shots came from the east, when they looked to see what it was, they saw a Zoid they had never thought they would come across it was so rare.

The transporter looked behind her to see what had happened, than saw the Zoid also.

"Irvine, is that you?!?" She asked excitedly.

"Sure is, how you been Moonbay?" Asked Irvine.

**Well, that is all, probably kind of disappointing with not finishing the battle, but it just seemed like such an excellent place to stop, though that is probably quite arguable. Thanks for reading!**

**LockeLink**


	8. Unknown Enemies

**Hello again. I don't have much to say except: I hope you enjoy!**

**Chapter 8 – Unknown Enemies**

"Hey kid!" Irvine shouted, "Get out of my way or I'll take you down with all of these bandits!"

"Irvine! I can't believe it's really you! Five years is quite a long time!" Moonbay stated with a huge smile on her face.

"Five years," He repeated, "yeah, I guess it is a pretty long time."

"Mark, don't attack the Lightning Saix unless it attacks us first, I suspect it is on our side since it didn't attack the transporter." Locke commanded.

"I understand," Mark, confirmed, "I am not to attack the Lightning Saix unless it threatens us in any way."

The Zoidians made a quick 180-degree turn to engage the remaining two Command Wolves, Shield Liger, and Zaber Fang.

"Yo Dirk, I know it's three Zoids against four right now, but we had a hard time taking on two of these guys before. I really don't think we stand a chance." Said one of the gang members to the leader of the bunch.

"I think your right, we'll just have to attack them again, with a larger crew." Replied Dirk.

"Are they retreating?" Asked Locke.

"Seems that way, perhaps now we can get some advice about the land here." Said Mark.

"I'll continue chasing these guys," Irvine announced, "Thanks for helpin' out one of my friends boys, seeya'round."

"Thanks for the help Irvine!" Moonbay shouted back.

The Zoidians exited out of their Zoids and Moonbay did the same.

"Well you two really got me out of a jam, don't worry about Irvine there, he'll be just fine on his own." Moonbay thanked them to get a conversation going.

"Think nothing of it," Locke responded, "My name is Locke, and this is Mark.

"I'm Moonbay, how do you do?"

"Fine, thank you." Mark replied.

"Do you know this desert very well?" Locke asked.

"Well...yeah, I'm pretty much familiar with this land, what do you need to know?"

Locke got out the map he had been looking at earlier "Do you know if this canyon here is safe to go through or not?"

"Actually, it is only safe if you don't get out of your Zoids. The bandits there don't attack unless you're vulnerable. But things change, as far as I know, you'll be fine, but they might still attack."

Locke didn't say anything; he just looked at the grains of sand at his boots and thought hard about the matter. Moonbay saw his worried expression.

"Hey!" she lightly punched him on the shoulder. "I'm sure with your skill, you won't have any problem, you'll be in the water colony before you know it!"

Locke looked up and smiled, "Thank you for your help."

"See you later!" Mark shouted behind him."

"Bye, and thanks again!" Moonbay shouted back.

"You too!" Locke finished.

The two Zoidians rode in silence toward the canyon that supposedly had bandits. A while later, Mark picked up the conversation.

"So, are we going to do it?" He asked.

"Yeah, we'll go through. But we'll go during the day, that way we will be able to get to our destination faster and safer."

"But if we stop half way through the day, won't that hurt our time if we waste the other half of the day?"

"It should be close to evening when we get there. I don't think we will waste much time." Locke confirmed.

"Alright, but one thing."

"What's that?"

"I call 'no night shift'!"

"You wish" Locke smirked.

"I am soooooo bored. Bored bored bored bored bored" Irvine started chanting. "Bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored BORED!!! I've been sitting here for 45 minutes! It wouldn't be so bad, if they hadn't said they would be here in 15!"

"Irvine, do you STILL have that attitude?" Asked the voice of an old friend.

"Van, this attitude is my LIFE!" Irvine started banging his head onto the controls in front of him.

"Nope, haven't' changed a bit." Van Flyhight evaluated, coming up behind Irvine.

"Yeah, even I can't tell a difference since we last met." Raven coldly added.

"Whoa!" Irvine jumped, "Didn't ever expect to see Raven again. And your not much of a Birthday Cake your self you know."

"I don't really mind, I've never heard of anyone calling anybody a 'Birthday Cake'.

Irvine just rolled his eyes, "You guys here to take the bandits?"

"Yeah, we got a Gustave with a 'prison trailer'." Van replied.

"I'm just wondering how you destroyed all of these Zoids by yourself without getting a scratch." Raven commented.

"Well, I actually had some help, but I could have destroyed them on my own!"

"Hold on Irvine, who else was here?" Van inquired.

"Don't know, but they weren't half bad, they were actually pretty good. They were in a green Zaber Fang and a blue Shield Liger."

Van looked a little troubled. "Do you know their purpose for getting into a fight like that?"

"They were obviously helping Moonbay. Either they did it out of the goodness of their hearts, or they wanted to have a little fun." Was all Irvine could come up with.

"Or they might have wanted something from Moonbay, perhaps the geography around here?" Raven added.

"Not sure, I did see them get out and talk to Moonbay, but I don't like to eavesdrop so I don't know what they said or asked from her." Irvine answered.

"Hmmm." Van thought to himself.

"Watcha thinkin' Van?" Raven asked.

"I'm thinking about what you said, about them asking about the geography. From what I've heard, the people who have been invading us don't really know this land, or this planet for that matter. It kind of makes sense from what I have already heard about them, but there have been people asking about different geography on Zi, requesting maps and such." Van stated.

"And you're probably thinking that those two might have something to do with this invasion?" Raven finished.

"Exactly. But thinking earlier to this conversation, I'm only worried about that IF they asked about geography. They could just be mercenaries, perhaps asking for a little money for their trouble. Irvine, go find Moonbay and ask her what they asked her. This might be a good lead for finding out more about our enemy."

"Sure thing Van." Irvine confirmed.

"Oh yeah, and tell her I said 'hi'!

Irvine gave Van a up, signifying that he got the message, got into his Zoid and rode off for her, first heading back to the battlefield and the following her tracks to find her.

Moonbay, going the opposite direction of the two Zoidians, continued to mosey on through the desert, bored out of her mind. She wished that she could have been going with the two young men she had just met. She would've liked some company. She just shrugged her shoulders at the thought.

"Life a transporter I guess."

Her life had really changed since the day she had met Van. He was always getting into trouble back than. She smiled at the memory of Van idiotically blurting out to Rob Herman that they had destroyed those entire sleeper Zoids with the Imperial ammunition. Or when he assaulted O'Connell just to save Zeek. She chuckled at another stupid stunt that Van pulled.

"A Flying papaya!" she said aloud. It was just the funniest thing to her. For a 14-year-old he didn't have any common sense.

Then there was Fiona.

"Only I know who would stop for a cricket." She said aloud and laughed a little more, "She is also the only person that I know who is immune to dehydration from salt. I haven't seen her since...well, since when the Saruer was finally put down. MAN the Saurer was a long time ago. Really thought I was going to die that time."

Then her thought turned to Irvine.

"Sometimes I can't tell if he is a 'good guy' or 'bad guy'. She said aloud. "Certainly is mysterious.

"How much is 'Sometimes'?" asked a familiar voice.

"Irvine? Am I hearing things?" she asked the voice she just heard.

"More like you left your com-link on and anyone who was within a mile heard everything you said." He responded.

Sure enough, she had left her radio on, on . She looked around and finally saw the Zoid had been behind her, quite a distance away. "So, did you capture the remaining Zoids who ran for their lives?" She asked.

"You bet, they have already been handed over to the Guardian Force, but I'm not sure if Herman could have been any slower."

Moonbay laughed. "So you are with the Guardian Force?" She inquired.

"Yeah, I guess the secret is out now." Irvine admitted.

"Ha! I knew you would grow up eventually."

Irvine smiled. "Just more proof that people do change."

"So what are you going to do now?" She inquired.

"Well, seeing as how I just got on vacation, I was hoping I could travel around with you. You know how bored I can get, and since you have bandits on your tale quite a bit, I was hopping you could provide me with a little bit of fun."

"Well," she began, "One thing for sure that hasn't changed, I'm always getting into trouble, and you're always here to try and talk a little common sense into me!"

"Nah, I kind of gave up on the whole common sense thing." He joked.

"Hey!"

"Moonbay," Irvine started, in a more serious tone, "I need you to tell me what those mercenaries said to you, Van would like to know anyway. He suspects they might be dangerous.

"Hmm, they just asked me if the blue canyon was a safe route to take to the Water Colony. I told them it should be okay if they stay in their Zoids." She responded.

"I see, okay thanks, I'd better give Van the message. Oh yeah, he also says 'Hi'."

Moonbay smiled, "While your being our messenger boy, tell him I said, "How you doing?"

Irvine rolled his eyes, "He's doing fine, and I'll tell him you said 'Hi', as well."

It was now the late evening, about 7:30. Locke and Mark had reached the canyon they would be soon crossing in the morning. Most of the stars were out on that clear beautiful night, and the two moons were close together.

The two had made a natural fire with the sticks and brush they had found in a small forest nearby. Usually they would have just got out their portable stove, but tonight, they desired a natural flame to stare into.

"Hey Locke."

"Hmm?"

"I noticed that something in that battle earlier. You are usually cheering yourself on in the middle of a battle. Whenever you fight, you are usually a - hot shot, but in that last battle, you didn't say much, not even a hoot or a holler. Is something up?"

Locke just looked into the flames with a slightly saddened look on his face. He tried to put on a fake smile, but could get him self to do it. He knew that Mark could sense his depression. "It's nothing really, nothing to worry about at all."

Mark just looked at his best friend for a little while and studied his expression. Locke didn't look too depressed; he just looked like he has something on his mind. "Nothing huh? I don't really believe you."

"I'm alright Mark, really."

"No Locke. I'm not just going to shrug off the fact that something is bothering my best friend, and leave you to deal with those emotions by yourself. We are best friends, I can't just let you bear the weight of whatever your burden is by yourself."

"That persistent attitude is one reason were really good friends, you know that?"

"Of course, you have the same attitude, plus we are very perceptive when something is bothering the other."

"I kind of have a hard time with admitting this. Ryss was the first one to notice my mood."

"Go on." Mark prodded.

"For the past ten years, this has never bothered me, but I'm really beginning to..." Locke stopped. He was afraid what his friends reaction would be if he admitted this weakness that continued to bother him. The only people that really knew were his organoid, Ryss, and Victor, his trainer in Zoid piloting (refer to chapter 5 to remember who Victor was if you've forgotten). Mark just looked at his friend. Locke looked up at Mark, he could see a deep care in Mark's eyes, but that didn't really give Locke the confidence and trust that he needed to tell his Mark what was wrong. "If you don't mind too much, I'd rather not talk about this right now. I know I can't deny that I have been acting different, but right now..."

Mark nodded his head, "I understand. When you are ready to tell me, I'll be listening." Mark yawned, "I'm going to bed."

"I'll wake you in four hours." Locke reminded.

"M'kay."

Inside a military bunker, Dr. Randal of the Earth Confederacy (I wanted to say 'Earth Forces', but that sounded too much like Gundam Seed) was planning out the final stages of purging Zi of all Zoidian kind, when he got a call from a lower ranking officer.

"Yes?" Asked Randal.

"Sir, we have uncovered some information that we thought you would be interested in."

"Really? And just what information could there be that I don't know of?"

"We aren't fighting Zoidians."

"What?!?" Randal asked with great enthusiasm.

"These are actually humans that we are fighting, there are records of three Zoidians, and that's it."

"Really? That is quite interesting. Who are they?" Inquired Randal.

"We have names and photos of each, but background story is unknown."

"That is fine. I need you to eliminate all three of them. I don't want to think about what would happen if they were to return. We would really have a major war on our hands. So make sure you make the assassinations silent and quick." Randal Ordered.

"Yes sir, and what about the rest of the planet?"

"For now, let us withdraw our troops. They show resistance, but that is too be expected, we were trying to eliminate them after all. I'm am going to see what I can find out about these humans here."

"Yes sir." Said the officer and ended the transmission.

"Hmm, Humans huh? That's interesting; I didn't think that they would survive here. What happened to the Saurer? I wonder..."

**And the plot thickens! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I think I'm doing ok so far, I know I haven't done nearly enough for the Earth Confederacy, and I apologize for that. I'm thinking next chapter I will shed some light on the Confederacy's origin and background.**

**LockeLink**


	9. War of the Outside Galaxy

Alright then, first, I would like to say that fan fiction quick/edit is still not working for me, so, instead of waiting on them, which would make you people who actually like this story of mine wait, I have decided just to post this, and when quick edit finally works, I'll reformat the chapters I have put up, because they aren't going to look real good.

Secondly, in response to a review someone sent me. I'll explain the pairings. First off, nobody is gay. It is my personal belief that it is wrong, though many would argue, so just deal with it, and if you have a problem with that, stop reading. Thirdly, there are no pairings up to this point. Van and Fiona split ways, Irvine and Moonbay haven't seen each other for years, and Raven and Ryss were never meant for paring in my opinion. Are there going to be any? You'll just have to find out.

That is all, till then!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 9 – War of the Outside Galaxy

Soon after Randal cut off the transmission with the reporting officer, he found himself pacing the room, deep in thought.

"Could those Humans on the planet really be-" He just shook his head, "No, they couldn't be, but I suppose it is possible."

He quickly got back onto his computer and attempted to contact one of his colleagues, only to be greeted by a "please wait" message.

"Just like him to be busy." Randal thought to himself. It didn't take long, however, before a man in a green polo shirt appeared. "Dr. Lewis!" Greeted Randal, "How have you been these days?"

"Stressed to the max as usual." Came the reply. "It isn't easy trying to conduct a war for unity. What are you up to these days?" He asked.

"I was wondering if you knew anything about the planet code named 'Zi'.

Lewis sat there for a minute, and then started typing something on another computer beside him. Soon after, his eyes lit up with a sign of discovery. "Aha. Yes. Zi. Well, a lot of the records here talk mostly about the Zoidians and their betrayal to the Confederacy. Says here that their betrayal made four other planets secede from the Confederacy soon after Zi did in hope to gain their own independence from the government and-"

Randal stopped him there, "Yes yes, I know that, how about after we left the planet? Are there any records?"

"Only a few. Why do you ask?" Lewis asked.

"Because a few startling discoveries I have made on that planet compel me to ask, what can you tell me?"

"Well it seems that the inhabitance from the planet "Lago" after the "Bloody Lago" were moved to "Zi" about 100 years ago."

'Bloody Lago' was a massacre on the planet Lago because of its refusal to rejoin with the Confederacy. The tragedy was not carried out with Guns and knives, but with nuclear weapons. After a while, the planet was mostly a smoldering crater and there weren't very many people left, and so the Confederacy moved these people to a new planet, Zi, in exchange for their loyalty.

When they continued to refuse to join, the Confederacy made them pay by attempting to brainwash these people into thinking that there was never a nuclear attack to begin with. The brain washing was used so that they wouldn't think badly of the Confederacy. If they didn't remember all the bombs, they wouldn't look at the Confederacy as a bunch of barbarians willing to slaughter millions of people just to take control. Eventually, they forgot.

The people numbered to about 20,000, and apparently have rebuilt their nation, and their culture on Zi, plus having discovered ancient Zoidian Technology, way back around the time when the Death Saurer had first risen. They seemed to be doing quite well for themselves. Already they had fought one really big war, and after peace negotiations created the "Guardian Force"

"You may recall that one of our colleges, Dr. Dura, moved down to the planet to study the people there, help rebuild their civilization, and gather any information of these people discovering anything in outer space such as our warships and such." Dr. Lewis reminded him.

"Yes, but I hear that he died quite sometime ago. Didn't he move down there with his grandson as well?" Randal asked.

"Yes, it seems so."

"Alright, thank you for your help." Randal nodded his head.

"Yes of course, but I was wondering. Why can't you just look all this up yourself?" Lewis asked.

"Apparently I'm not allowed to read files that are at Level B or above. But don't worry; I have every right to have this information. This is my invasion after all." Randal reminded him.

"Well alright. I better get back to work. Thank you for calling Randal."

"Yes of course."

And the transmission ended. The room got darker now that the screen was off. Randal thought in the dark silence for a while. He wondered how the inhabitants would react to the Confederacy now if they just explained their motives. After all, they wouldn't have to go through a big war. And perhaps the culture has changed enough to except the idea of a united government. The only problem was that one side had a Republic, and the other side had an Empire, uniting these governments took a strenuous amount of time and effort.

Randal put the screen back up with the two women that were reported to be Zoidians. Apparently they lost most of their memory, but seemed to regain it slowly.

"According to their records, they both exited their capsules at the ages of 13 (Fiona) and 7 (Ryss). I doubt that they would remember the invasion against their people 230 years ago, why back when we fought the Death Saurer. But would they remember such an event? Mere children probably wouldn't have understood what exactly was going on…but still." Randal was talking to himself out loud. "If we can eliminate these two, I can have my revenge, plus their deaths will mean a better chance at peace. If they wander around tarnishing our reputation and good name, we would have a serious war on our hands. Luckily they are the only two left. After that, I can think freely about negotiations with the rest of the planet." He loved the idea of the Zoidian Eradication plan already pretty much done before it really started.

After a little more thought on the matter, Randal brought the screen to the historical archives they retrieved from a Republic archive. He hadn't really read it a lot. Now that he realized these were actually humans, he thought it would be good to read up on their progress and their intentions for the future. He continued to skim over the words when a certain excerpt caught his eye.

"Death Saruer!" He exclaimed in a terrified whisper. "These people have the power to resurrect the Death Saruer!" He read each word carefully, analyzing what the full meaning behind each word was. "Van Flyheight: Slayer of the Death Saruer." He murmured. The he brought his attention to a particular girl. "Fiona, a.k.a. Aliesse Lanet."

It wasn't long until after a while, he found the names of Ryss, Hiltz, Gunther Prozen, Raven and the second Death Saurer

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Locke looked at his watch. "10:30" he yawned. "Only one more hour to go, and I can sleep."

Link came up behind look and rested his head over Locke's shoulder.

"Yes?" Locke asked.

"How are you doing Locke?"

"That's a rather awkward question to ask at a time like this." Locke commented.

"Is it?"

"What are you getting at Link?" Locke asked the green organoid. His tone was a little tenser then at the beginning of the conversation.

"Relax Locke. I just wanted to make sure you were ok. I heard what you said to Mark a little while ago, I was right there you know."

"I just don't feel comfortable enough to talk about it right now, ok?"

"But you have already told Ryss, Victor and myself. Why can't you tell Mark? You two share a bond that is extremely close. You two are the closest thing to brothers. You would lay down your life for him, and he would do the same for you. But you can't tell him what is on your mind?"

Link was a very persuasive debater. He could bring up pretty good point when it was necessary. Locke knew that what the organoid spoke of was true. The campfire was almost gone. Locke got up to throw in another log they had chopped and some twigs they found in a nearby forest. He had no idea what to say to the organoid, it wasn't often that he was at a loss for words; usually he would have some comment to fight back with, but not now. He didn't like to admit it, so he would just greet his inability to answer with silence.

Locke threw in a few extra twigs, making the campfire snap loudly. Mark didn't make any indication of waking up. He sat back down, and the organoid put his nose back on Locke's shoulder.

"Well?" He asked.

Locke didn't say anything for a while. He just rubbed the Organoid's snout on the left side and rested his head on the right. Soon after, a tear fell from Locke's eye and onto the organoid. It startled Link, but he didn't make a move, he just sat there in silence to get an explanation from Locke.

Finally, Locke took a deep breath and began to speak. "It is true that Mark and I are very good friends. But for some reason, I just don't feel comfortable talking to him about it right now."

"I can sense fear from you, why are you afraid?"

The tears began to flow a little more freely now. "What will he think if I tell him?" Locke finally admitted.

"Is that the true reason you are afraid?" Link asked.

Locke sometimes wondered how the organoid could be so insightful. He began to think there was more to the problem than what he had admitted to Ryss, Victor and his organoid.

"Why are you getting on my case so much?!?" Locke shouted with out thinking. Immediately after he yelled that he looked at Mark, who stirred around his sleeping bag, and then got up slowly.

"Locke?" He asked, "Why are you yelling at Link?"

"Sorry about that Mark," Locke apologized. "I'll take an hour off from my night shift to make up for that."

"No, that's ok, right now I want to know what is making you yell." Mark inquired.

"Sorry, I just got a little upset, I'm fine now, really." Locke replied.

"Sorry Mark, maybe I invaded into Locke personally thoughts a little to long." Link apologized as well. Though it was a little strange, Mark could understand what Link was saying every now and then. Sometimes he could hear the organoid in perfect English, other times, it would just be a bunch of growls.

Locke had his back turned to both Link and Mark right then. So Mark got up and took a couple steps toward his friend. He slowly advanced till he was right behind him. About a minute passed by, and nobody said a word or made a sound. Finally, Mark lightly touched Locke's shoulder. Before he could say anything, he felt a very small shaking from Locke's body. Mark looked at what he could at Locke's face and found more tears trailing down.

Mark nudged his friend to turn around and wrapped his arms around Locke and embraced him. Locke put his head on Mark's shoulder, and embraced his arms across Mark's back as well.

No one said anything. The only sounds they could hear were the wind blowing across the desert, the crackling of the fire, and the light sobs from Locke. After a while, Locke calmed down, and walked over to the fire again and sat down. Mark followed suite and put an arm on his shoulders.

The silence was finally broken when Locke spoke in small phrases. "Mark…" His voice trailed off and came right back. "Look, I'm sorry I haven't really been that honest with you or with Link. It just is really hard to admit this to you."

Now it was Mark's turn to speak. "Locke, I don't know what you are going through right now, but I just want you to be honest so that I can help you in anyway that I can. Even if it is just a small way, I really don't want to think back to this moment one day and wonder if I did the right thing to leave you alone. Locke you need to tell me. It could be quite serious if you don't. Link and I both love you Locke. We would never insult you or turn away from you if you ever had a problem, including now."

Locke sighed again. He was sure Mark would never look at him the same way again once he told him what was on his mind. Reluctantly, he gave in to his friend's pleas and began to speak. "I just can't take it anymore. This mission has really started getting to me. That last battle back there terrified me, and for the first time, I took into account that there was a chance that you could have been killed back there or at any time during this war that is about to begin."

"Locke," Link began, "I can sense a large amount of fear about you. You just aren't the same. What are you afraid of?"

"I want to go back home!" Locke finally shouted. "I don't mean back to Ryss, Victor and my peers, I mean back when I was with my parents. I miss my parents ok?!?"

"Locke…is this true?" Mark asked slowly.

"Yes!" Locke shouted again. "Are you happy now? Just don't lecture me now. I just don't want to hear it!"

"What are you talking about?" Mark asked. "Why would I lecture you?"

"Because of you lost your parents too! I don't need you to tell me to suck it up and move on. I've heard that phrase one to many times. I don't want to hear it again." Locke busted into tears. Mark was really shocked. He then realized what Locke was really saying.

"Locke, listen to me. Just because we both lost are homes on that day, and I'm not reacting the way you are doesn't mean that you're just a crybaby who needs to get over it. Locke, believe me, I had my session of tears about 2 years ago, and you are having yours now. I was hit before you and naturally got over my depression before you. You remember that, don't you?" Locke just nodded his head. "And," Mark continued, "You helped me the same way I'm helping you. Just being there and supporting each other is what friendship is about. All I wanted this whole time was for you to allow me to do my part. But before I could help you, you needed to tell me what was wrong."

Locke didn't say anything for a while. His organoid was to his left, and Mark was to his right at the time. The ones that he loved really surrounded him. He didn't know what to say. "I know." Was all he said.

Mark just smiled, this guy was always trying to uplift others, even when it meant putting himself down. "You are really humble, you know that?" Mark asked Locke in his head.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And that's it, A little shorter, but not that much shorter. I hope I made things clearer for the Confederacy's point of view, I hadn't done much with them yet, and knew that before long it would be to far in to this story before I introduce them, better late than never I suppose. I hope you enjoyed!

LockeLink


	10. Canyon Brawl

**Though some might not agree, but I felt like I wasn't getting enough in these chapters, so I decided to double the length, at least for now, I have a lot of information to uncover to my readers. Just expect this to be double the length from what I usually write. Oh yeah, I'm also running out of good title names, so try to bear with me a little bit. Thank you.**

**LockeLink**

**------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Chapter 10 – Canyon Brawl**

The next day came soon and rather uneventfully. Mark woke up and studied the sun's position to see if he could read the time. He guessed it was around ten o'clock and then checked his watch.

"10:30." He mumbled to no one in particular. He looked around to find that Locke was up and already cooking something on their small hot plate. After sniffing a couple times, he could only guess that it was a vegetable soup of some kind. He got out of his sleeping bag and just got into his uniform. Locke looked like he had already had already shaved and taken a bath. Mark went over to a lake nearby and wet his hair down to comb it a little bit, and then went over to find out what they day's plan was.

Mark sat down across from Locke and looked at the steaming stew. Locke wasn't the best cook, but he also wasn't the worst. He poured a bowl out for Mark and himself and they ate in silence. Mark considered bringing up the conversation that went on last night, but quickly decided against it. He figured that when Locke was ready to talk about it, he would talk about it. But he also needed to make sure that his not saying anything would be a poor decision. He couldn't just let Locke go on with the torment going on inside his soul. Mark finally decided that if, after a while, Locke didn't say anything, he would have to intervene in the silence and make sure everything was all right.

"So," Mark began to get some sort of conversation going, "What shall we do today?"

Locke just looked up from his stew and looked back down again. "You make it sound like I'm the leader of this operation. You can take some charge too you know."

"Of course I know. You're just the better leader, that's all." Mark explained. Locke just shook his head at the comment.

"I'm more of a follower then a leader."

"Locke, you know very well that the fact you are such a great follower makes you a great leader."

"Even if that were true-

"It IS true." Mark interrupted.

"Mark, listen, I'm not any kind of leader at all. The huge responsibility of it all would just get to me. I would never be fit enough to take on such a task." Locke tried to explain to his fellow solider, but the explanation only made Mark laugh. The sudden outburst from Mark irritated Locke and only made him wonder what was so funny. When Mark was finished laughing, he saw the look on Locke's face that asked him why he was laughing at his comment. Mark was quick to explain.

"Look Locke, first of all, you belittle yourself way to much. 'Can't handle the responsibility'? Ha! Locke, if there were anyone I know that could handle a leader status, it would be Victor, Ryss, and yourself. You've seen some of the hotshots in our training camp. THEY fall flat on their faces from the pressure of the job. You may be a hotshot at times yourself, but you can most certainly lead a squad of soldiers in any war."

Locke began to say something, but Mark wasn't finished. "Secondly, what have you been doing this whole time? Think back to the battle we just fought yesterday. Who was it that ordered us to attack the two Zoids chasing the Gustave instead of splitting our resources? You. Under whose orders was it that we attacked those Zoids in the first place? Yours. During many of our combat simulations, who is it that always leads us to victory against the other team? I don't even need to answer that one for you. True, your not the only one who has success, but incase you haven't noticed, your record shows that you have had very few casualties."

Locke didn't say anything. He didn't know what to say. Link came around the foot of the Shield Liger where he has supposedly been sleeping, but Locke knew that the organoid had been listening in on the conversation that he and Mark were having. The sound of metallic legs and feet could be heard coming closer and stopped right beside Locke. Link looked at Locke for a couple seconds and decided to put in his two cents into the conversation.

"He's right you know." Was all Link said. The fact that Link only said four words kind of surprised Locke.

" 'He's right you know'? That's all you have to say? Sheesh, I was ready to listen to an entire speech, and all you have to say is four words?" Locke

"Hmm," The organoid thought for a moment, "yep!"

Mark chuckled at the response. A good five minutes went by as they ate in silence again. When they finally finished, Mark paraphrased his previous question. "So what's the plan?" Locke rolled his eyes and answered the question seriously. "I was hoping we could pass through this canyon before night fall, and continue moving forward through the night. We had a pretty full moon and I expect it to be here again tonight, that will give us some light to ride in."

"Look at that attitude Locke. How can you say you are not a leader?" Mark attempted to convince his friend again.

"Can you just drop it already?" Locke asked a little frustrated. They began to pack up camp once again. When Locke disappeared around the Zaber Fang, Mark asked a question that wasn't directed to anyone in particular.

"Why can't he accept a compliment like that one?"

"Because," Link answered him, "For many people, it is hard to accept compliments. It is an awkward feeling to be praised in such a manner. Sure everyone likes attention and the feeling of being loved, but compliment just seems like it's too much to take in. It's a rather hard concept to explain really." Mark watched in the direction of the Zaber Fang. He pondered what Link had just told him, but then quickly began to pick up what was left at the campsite and tucked it away in the back of his Shield Liger.

It wasn't long at all until they were off again. They were a little drowsy, but not bad enough to complain about. Mark had a small neck cramp he was trying to crack for a while, but eventually found the right spot and cracked back into comfort.

Locke just pondered what had happened last night. Had he told his friend too much? Locke was a rather self-contained person. He never gave much away about himself that he didn't want the public knowing. He had great friends, but he just felt like he couldn't quite trust them sometimes. Mark, being his best friend, was usually the person he would confide in if he ever needed it. Even then it was still hard to trust him, but that was just Locke's nature.

The other thing on his mind was the urgency of his orders. Ryss had given him the task rather quickly. He constantly wondered why she would have procrastinated that long. Had she just forgotten? Not likely, she was the kind of person that was always on the ball. It still didn't explain she held it off for this long. Also, was it really right for them to kidnap this woman? It just didn't seem right to take someone who was merely working at an orphanage, to a new military base for purposes unknown to him. For all he knew, when she got there, she would find herself not doing anything, but just sitting around letting whatever her skills were go to waste. After a while, he just assumed that she would just work at a Zoidian orphanage.

He shrugged the thought from his mind. He would worry about it when he got there. He hoped he wouldn't have to use force to get her to come with them.

He surveyed his surroundings. The Canyon was wide enough to squeeze both of the Zoids side by side, but they decided to go through one at a time with Mark's Zoid in front. Locke looked warily for any sign of bandits, but could find none. "I guess that transporter was right, there aren't any bandits here anymore, that is, if there were any." He thought to himself. He could tell that this could turn out to be a very uneventful operation.

"Aunty Fiona! Come play with me!" Called a small boy, about the age of four, holding a small ball.

"I'll be there in just a second!" Fiona responded cheerfully. "I just need to clean up this small spill, and then I'm all yours." She smiled at him and his face lit up with joy.

"Yay!"

Fiona had been working here for only a couple of days. Of course it didn't take long for the children to love her. By the end of the first day, they had fallen in love. By now, they practically adored her. She already had one of the much younger boys propose marriage to her. She just chuckled on the inside and politely declined with a "No, but thank you for asking". Seeing as he was to young to understand the true intimate feelings of a marriage relationship, he was merely sadden a little, but Fiona fixed that right away with a small game of hide and seek, and it wasn't long until he forgot about the marriage proposal.

When Fiona had mopped up the spill on the floor she began to play with the boy tossing a beach ball back and forth.

"Toss it higher, toss it higher!" The boy exclaimed.

"Okay, here we go!" Fiona warned. She tossed it into the air, but a crosswind unfortunately caught the ball instead and began to roll the ball down a small hill.

"I'll get it!" The boy proclaimed. As he went off the orphanage manager came up behind Fiona. He was about 80 years of age, and though he had a cane, he always had a good amount of energy in him. He was completely bald, and his face was wrinkled to show his age.

"How are you doing this fine day Miss. Fiona?" He asked. She turned around and smiled.

"I'm doing just fine, how about yourself?" She asked back politely.

"I am just dandy." He answered back with a smile of his own. "I can't say it enough, I thank you for everything you have done for us."

"Well, you have repaid me with some food and lodging, so in my eyes we are as even as we can be."

"No," He countered, "Please tell me when you plan on leaving, I wouldn't want to send you away empty handed, I must pay you something at least. You really aren't getting your moneys worth."

"I'll allow you to give me enough money or food to get to my next destination," She eyed the boy who had gone to go recover the ball the wind had stolen away. He had an egger face and was ready for their game to continue. "But not a penny more, I want to be a blessing to you all, not a hi that is looking for any kind of money she can get her hands on."

"I can understand what you're saying, now you go on ahead and play with that young lad, I have a few matters I need to attend to at my desk. Carry on." He turned and smiled at her before he left and she smiled back. She continued to play with the boy, but after a while, they both got pretty tired of playing with the ball, she left to go put it away while he went inside to take a nap.

It was about 3 o'clock in the after noon. All of the children were shepherded indoors, and Fiona sighed with relief, "Good, I don't have to help with the kitchen tonight, I think I'll go lie down for a while." She thought to herself. She entered the room that had been designated hers. Surprisingly, there was enough room for the staff to have their own room. The children on the other hand slept in two different rather large rooms, on for males, and one for females.

She lied down on the bed and thought about the day's events. It had been a rather good day. The children were good, the weather was good, what else could she ask for? The orphanage itself was rather nice. The two-story building was in very good condition and was never really that full compared to other orphanages. This was due to the fact that the water colony was a rather nice place with many residents, and because the orphanage was so close by, people continued to adopt the children who were there.

While Fiona continued thinking to herself, she heard a light tap on the door.

"Who is it?" Fiona asked.

"It's me, Sarah!" Came a voice behind the door. Sarah was one of the staff that befriended Fiona immediately. Like Fiona, she traveled from town to town helping out in anyway she could. Sarah had come a few days before Fiona, so she was eager to make friends with someone who was a stranger like herself.

"Come on in." Sarah entered the room, rather surprised to see Fiona lying on the bed.

"Oh! Did I wake you? I really didn't mean too!" She began to get hasty, but Fiona tried to calm her down.

"Sarah, Sarah! It's all right, I just was resting, and that's all. I don't have much else to do."

"Oh," Sarah realized, "Are you feeling alright?"

"Yes, I'm quite fine." Fiona mused.

"The latest reports of the mysterious attackers came in today." Sarah stated.

"Really? What's going on?" Fiona asked.

"Well, we still don't know who the actually are, but it seems as though they have halted their attack. I heard some rumors in town that these people aren't even from Zi. Some say they came from the Blue Planet, but no one knows for sure."

"Why did they stop attacking?" Fiona asked, a little confused. It sounded like they were making good progress into our territory, why did they stop?"

Sarah just shrugged, "I don't understand either, my guess is that our soldiers must have stopped them somewhere important, and now they are making a full retreat."

"Hmm, you're probably right. Can't think of any other explanation other than that." Fiona stated.

"So are the kids beginning to wear you down?" Sarah asked with a smile.

"No, I just haven't been going to bed responsibly these past few days." Fiona answered.

"Oh. Hey Fiona, when do you plan on leaving?"

"Hmm, I usually stay about five weeks before moving on, I can't lend my aid to anyone place for a long time."

"I was wondering, since I'm getting kind of tired of being the only person I know, could I travel with you?"

Fiona thought about it for a while, and then replied, "You know, I'm surprised I didn't think of that before. I guess I just didn't know your plans to try and ask."

"Great!" Sarah exclaimed. "Thank you so much!" She hugged Fiona and ran out. Fiona smiled, it would be good to have a friend she could really relate and talk too where ever she went, she got excited just thinking about it. She lied back down and drifted off to sleep.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"General Shuttle!" Yelled a Commander of the Confederate forces. "What are you doing, why are you halting the attack!?!" General Gary Shuttle was the person in charge of the take over of Zi along with Dr. Randal. A lot of people that were in the command center when the commander yelled out his question in anger and were pretty surprised he did so. Many of them had a look on there face like he would soon lose his head.

"What do you mean, Commander?" Asked the General, putting more emphasis on the word 'Commander' to remind the lower ranking solider of his position and whom he was talking to.

"Uh, what I mean is, sir, we have these guys on the run, and I was wondering why you would stop now?" The commander stuttered trying to regain his composer.

"First of all, you must understand that you are just a commander, you don't have the bigger picture of this war the way I do. Secondly, I would like you to answer a couple questions for me. Number one: Do you delight in mass slaughter of innocent civilians?"

"Uh, no, of course not!" Replied the officer, wondering what is superior was getting at.

"Good," Said the general, "Number two: Do you know what our ultimate objective is here? I'll tell you what it is, to take over this planet with as few casualties as possible."

"Y-yes sir."

"Now back to your post, and put your trust in me. I know what I'm doing; we can't afford to lose a lot of soldiers and commanders such as you. Don't throw your life out the window. You are dismissed." They saluted each other and the commander left, a little bewildered. After the encounter was over, Dr. Randal came up behind General Shuttle. "What do you need Randal?"

The Doctor was a little surprised that the General knew who it was, but didn't let his surprise show.

"You still need to tell me the real ultimate goal that you have in mind, General."

"What are you talking about Randal?" The General growled, "I believe you just heard me say it to that commander just now?"

"Please," Spat the doctor, "That is the most pathetic lie I have ever heard, you have something else in mind, and I would like to know about it." A lot of soldiers looked in their direction, curious as to what Dr. Randal could be talking about and what General Shuttle would say about it.

"Dr. Randal, lets take this somewhere else so I can remind you who still has the greater authority in this operation, come with me please." A lot of 'Ohhs' came from the command center staff, but the General went into his office and Randal followed and acted like he was about to get a promotion. When they were inside the Generals den, Shuttle asked the big question on his mind.

"What do you want, Randal? You after something, you might as well tell me what it is."

"Last night, I got this planets history and read about a few people who are Zoidians. I told you, they are not dead. We have proof. Not only that, but they were all involved in a plot to resurrect our greatest enemy, the Death Saurer. The humans here, however, took out the Death Saurer with the help of one young man."

"Who is this man? One who is strong enough to destroy a Zoid of legendary status?"

"His name is Van Flyheight. General, if one man was strong enough to be a key in destroying the Death Saurer, there is no telling the strength of this planet! You may have been invading this planet without hardly any resistance, but what about when they regroup and retaliate?!? What are you going to do then?"

The General smiled, "You think he's a Zoidain?"

"Along with two other people, yes."

"Show me the profiles of these people."

The General received the folder containing the profiles he wanted and read silently. Randal spoke up.

"I know there're more Zoidians out there, hiding. I want to continue the attack before they rise up without us knowing and strike."

"The two women, Fiona Alyesse Lanet and Ryss, the blue Devil have been proven to be Zoidians, but this young man, there is nothing here that points to him being Zoidian. I know his skill is good, but he probably just has talent."

All was silent, the Doctor looked like he was trying to make a comeback, but the General spoke first.

"'To take over this planet with as few casualties as possible', that includes Zoidians. Tell you what, if they are alive and as barbaric as they were 200 years ago, they will be killed, but if we can negotiate with them and achieve peace, there will be no need for bloodshed, for that is the objective of the confederacy, to rule over all of the colonies with justice and peace for the better of mankind. If we can work together, then we assured to see a better tomorrow. Do not forget that, Randal. You are dismissed." The General saluted and left the room. Randal continued to stand in the same spot for a while to take in all that the General had said. Finally, he clenched his fist and growled.

"That pacifistic point of view will be the confederacy's down fall." And he finally left the room as well.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Locke sighed with relief, so far so good. They hadn't seen a soul since they entered the canyon. They were a few apparent signs that a battle or two had gone on in this canyon, but not too bad to make him nervous. They would soon be on the other side in about five minutes. After that, it would only be a few hours to get to their intended destination, the Water Colony. They had alternated the person in front about every two hours for the past seven hours.

They turned their last corner and could see the end of the canyon. However, just before they were at the end, Locke stopped suddenly.

"Get back!" He yelled at Mark and they both jumped back and ran around the last corner they had turned just a few moments ago. By the time Locke had turned the corner, an explosion had gone off leaving a huge cloud of dust where they had just stood before.

"What was that?!?" Mark asked

"A grenade, I saw it coming down in time."

"Now what?" Mark asked.

"You try to look for some footing to shimmy against the walls and get on top of the wall, I'll fire at them from down here."

When the dust settled, Locke turned the corner to see if he could find the enemy, only to find a single stealth viper blocking the path of the canyon.

"Who are you!?!" Locke commanded the Zoid in front of him."

"Oh, don't get mad," Replied the pilot, "I just wanted to make sure you knew I meant business. You have to pay a toll before exiting this canyon."

"Under whose authority?"

"Under MY authority!" The Viper fired a few shots at Locke. Locke looked for an opportunity to dodge the incoming fire, but found that the canyon had gotten a lot thinner, only allowing him to move a few yards around. The shots all hit him dead on. "Now it's a hundred dollars each, and I'll let you through without anymore wounds, if you don't have enough money, you will just have to go back out the way you came, and go all the way around this canyon. That will only take you about two days, it's your choice. Oh, and if you try anything, I've got seven Dark Horns fully armed to the teeth and ready to kill. It's your call."

When the pilot had finished his small speech, Mark jumped over Locke, and fired two missiles into the walls beside the viper. Rocks came tumbling down and crushed the Zoid's body, but the head was still intact.

"You're going to regret that!" The Viper pilot screamed. The two Zoidians jumped over the rubble and exited the canyon. Sure enough, seven Dark Horns awaited them and rained down missile and gunfire on the two. There were three on each side, and one in the middle to cut off any sort of escape they would attempt. The formation looked somewhat like it was in a 'V' shape.

"Mark, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Dominos!" Mark rang out excitedly.

"Right, I'll take the left side, you take the right side, and we crush the one in the middle if he tries to attack us. Make it swift and then we will leave before we draw to much attention from local authorities.

The Zodiains gladly did their deed. Both sets of claws rammed one of the Dark Horns on either side, which then triggered the domino effect and rammed into the Horn beside them. When the domino effect got to the center Zoid, the pilot closed his eyes and braced for impact, only to find the there was a Dark Horn laying on either side of him, they had missed him by half an inch. By the time he did open his eyes, Locke and Mark had already ran past him and were now well away from the battlefield. He sighed and thanked the both of them silently for sparing him.

Mark was laughing his head off. "Did you see the look on the pilots face!?!"

"Yeah," Locke replied with a smile, "That was sure fun."

"You know, no matter how many times I do it, the domino effect never gets old!"

"I know what you mean, but you really should hold off when we fight rookies back home during training."

Mark laughed again, "Remember when we did it to twenty of them!?! Rev Raptors always are the best dominos."

"You bet I remember, I also remember when Victor yelled at us and told us not to do it again soon after we pulled that stunt."

"Like I said, it never gets old!" Mark exclaimed. Locke just rolled his eyes.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Three hours later after the whole domino incident, Van and Raven were still trying to catch the two mysterious mercenaries that had almost single handedly dealt with the gang of bandits that had chased Moonbay. They too had decided at last minute to use the canyon as a shorter route to catch up with them. When they got to the end of the canyon and emerged from it, they saw the wreckage of the Stealth Viper and the six Dark Horns that had been disabled before. Only one of the Dark Horns was seen to have had no injury on it what so ever. It was now about 6 o'clock in the evening. A campfire could be seen just outside of the prior battlefield, so Van and Raven decided to take a look and ask some questions. The damage of the Zoids reflected the pilots, but they had not been hit so hard, the cockpits were never attacked. The two exited from their Zoids and introduced themselves.

"My name is Van Flyheight of the Guardian Force, would you gentlemen mind telling me what went on here?" Van asked.

"Yeah," Said who apparently was the leader of the whole gang, "We ran into a couple of marauders who emerged from the canyon. As you can see, they left one Zoid; we piled up the rest of the unusable ones over there.

"It looks like that Stealth Viper was hit by boulders or something heavy rather than gunfire, actually, none of you Zoids look like they were hit by any gunfire," Raven observed, "but what is the story behind the Stealth Viper?"

"I ran into the Canyon to get some shelter and make it harder for them to get me, but they merely shot the canyon wall and piled a bunch of boulders on me. The other took care of my boys quite nicely. Why they left one, I don't know."

"What Zoids were they using?" Van asked.

"A green Zaber Fang, and a blue Shield Liger." Van and Raven exchanged glances.

"Where were they headed?" Raven asked.

"Toward the Water Colony." Replied another guy who was apparently in the Zoid that was undamaged.

"I see, thank you, we will try to get you some assistance." Said Van.

"No no, just stop those two before they wreak havoc on the Water Colony."

"Uh, when did all of this happen anyway?" Raven asked.

"About three hours ago." Replied the leader. Van and Raven looked at each other, they would be at the Water Colony by now.

"Thank you, we had better hurry." Van replied.

When the two Guardian Force members left, the unhurt gang member looked at the leader and spoke up. "They will be back you know."

"Yes," Replied the leader, "When they get enough out of sight, we will have to go to a nearby cave and fix up our Zoids to take them to a repair shop at the Water Colony when things have cooled down.

**-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Well, you finally reached the end. I hope it wasn't too long. That Gang that was just beat up, by the way, they are not important to the story, just another one of those character story enhancers. Thank you for reading! Be sure to tell me any flaws or confusing parts there are in my story, I'm sure there are a lot of them. Also, I don't know what the currency for Zenny is which I believe they use in the series, so I'm just going to use dollars instead.**

**LockeLink**


End file.
